Lando Norris is “hopeful” McLaren have solved a problem with his car’s fuel system which he claims has compromised his performance in recent rounds.
The McLaren driver says he has been losing speed on straights compared to his team mate because of the problem. McLaren believe they have identified the cause.However Norris pointed out the potential gain from the fix won’t be as significant in Singapore due to the Marina Bay circuit’s lack of long straights.
“I need to get on track first and see how much better it is,” he said. “It’s obviously also a circuit where straights are not the highest priority and [it won’t be] as detrimental as the last few weekends.
“But nevertheless, you always want to go down the straights as quick as you should be able to. It’s always tough when you come out of corners better and end up going slower.”
Norris won in Hungary and the Netherlands and came close to victory in Madrid. He took pole position at all three rounds, but only managed fifth on the grid in the previous two races, which he believes was partly due to the problem on his car.
“It’s been a frustrating two weekends trying to figure out what the issue’s been and why there’s just been a constant lack of straight-line speed and performance,” he said. “Especially in this kind of battle we’ve been in, the last two qualifying [sessions] it’s been two or three positions. So it’s cost me quite a lot.
“At the same time, there’s obviously things I can do better as well. But I’m confident that the team have done a good job. They put a lot of work into trying to figure out things and I’m hopeful that it’ll be better this weekend. But I have to get out on track and see first.”
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