Lando Norris has issued an ominous warning that he expects Red Bull to be even stronger as the Belgian Grand Prix weekend continues, despite a positive opening day for McLaren.
The reigning world champion ended Friday second on the timesheets and was the only driver to get within two tenths of championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
Fitted with a new rear wing endplate, Norris looked competitive at Spa-Francorchamps, although he does have a 10-place grid penalty to serve.
Norris will start no higher than 11th after taking a new power unit outside of his allocated pool, although it is at least Mercedes' improved engine.
Nevertheless, the Briton was pleased with McLaren's performance but is wary of how often the team slips backwards come qualifying.
Asked if he was happy with the car's performance, Norris replied: "I would say so. I think in terms of our pace at the end, we seemed good on one lap.
"Yeah, we seemed reasonable, but there have been quite a few times throughout the season where we seemed to be good in FP2, and then we're off the pace come qualifying. So yeah, today was more about getting through our plan in FP1. It wasn't the cleanest FP1.
"We had a few problems and a few issues, which didn't allow us to get out of the garage as quickly as we wanted to.
"And obviously, it would have been nice to get a few more laps in at the end without the red flag, just to learn some more about high fuel. But otherwise, I think we made some improvements between the sessions, and we have to see if we can take another step into FP3."
Red Bull threat expected
While the Woking-based outfit has a tendency to slip backwards, Red Bull often finds extra performance overnight ahead of third practice and qualifying.
Max Verstappen topped first practice before finishing third in FP2, with Norris expecting Red Bull to unlock even more pace on Saturday.
Addressing where he sees McLaren and its rivals this weekend, Norris explained: "I mean, we've not really changed anything this weekend, so there's no reason for us to expect anything different.
"Red Bull normally just don't turn up on Friday, so we'll get to tomorrow, and they'll be just as quick, if not quicker. So let's just wait and see. I think we probably turned up [our engine] with Mercedes, and the rest of them didn't.
"So I think we're still probably, at the minute, the fourth-fastest. But it seems like if we can get things right, then we might be a little bit closer than we were at Silverstone. So that's great."
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