Lando Norris finds pace in Barcelona

It is absolutely wild to see Lando Norris topping the timesheets on Friday in Barcelona after he had to sit out FP1 entirely. His McLaren was handed over to the rookie and reigning F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli for that opening hour, but Norris jumped straight back into the rhythm to finish 0.009s clear of George Russell’s Mercedes in the second session.

Watching the McLaren pair move around the track is a beautiful sight. Oscar Piastri was right there with him, finishing third in FP2 just 0.057s behind his teammate. The team appears to be on par with Mercedes as we return to this traditional circuit. Norris admits the car is "heading in the right direction" following a tough month of technical issues that kept him from finishing the last two Grands Prix.

There is still work to be done, however. Even with this early pace, Norris is wary of the tyre degradation in the heat, especially with warmer conditions expected for Saturday’s Qualifying. As he put it, "It's probably not working as good as we want still and there's still things I'm not happy with," but for now, the progress is clear.