Top speed "weakness" could hinder McLaren in Austria - Norris
McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris admits it could be tough for him to maintain his recent strong Austrian GP form this weekend due to the team's straightline performance "weakness".


Norris has a good record at the Red Bull Ring, finishing third and fifth in the two 2020 events, before repeating the same combination of results last year.
The team's 2022 car has been notoriously draggy, hurting its top speed, but at the British GP McLaren introduced a low-drag rear wing, which could potentially also be useful in Austria.
Norris hopes that the team will be able to achieve some gains this weekend.
"We still have a slight weakness, let's say," Norris said. "And it's not just the wing, there are various other things which count towards drag on the car. So it definitely helps. But you also have a lot of high-speed corners here.
"So similar to Silverstone, which obviously was a decent weekend for us in terms of pace, with no upgrades. And what we had in Silverstone was something very small. It wasn't like something which really gained us more than probably a tenth, in a way.
"Hopefully the car can work in a similar way, that we're decent in high-speed, we're reasonable in the straights, and therefore we can just be that good middle ground, and the car just works well.
"So not any strengths, I would say, compared to previous years, but we're just almost there-ish on a lot of areas."
McLaren technical director James Key acknowledged at Silverstone that the team was playing with wings in attempt to find more straightline performance.
"I think last year straightline speed was an advantage for us," said Key. "And we felt that probably we could have gone with a higher top end wing at times.
"I think this year we're a little bit slower in a straightline than we'd like to be. Having said that, we've got enough of a range of rear wings to cure it now.
"I think we're sort of hovering around an area which is on the higher wing side at the moment. And we are aware of that.
"And we'll want to try and improve the efficiency of the lower end of the wings and medium level of the wings so we can lift us up a little bit in the top speed."

Lando Norris, McLaren, cycles the track
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Norris says past results at the Red Bull Ring were influenced both by his own familiarity with the track and by as the strong straightline speed performance and high-speed cornering abilities of the McLaren.
"I think it's a track I've driven on for many years," he said when asked by Motorsport.com about his good record in Austria.
"In F4 I came here a few times, Formula Renault then I had here, F3, F2. So it's a track I just know well, as probably I guess do most other people.
"One of my strengths is also high-speed corners. So when it comes to not so much Turn 6 but then Turn 7, the second left-hander, they use the good strengths for me, and we're usually getting a decent amount of laptime.
"But otherwise, something that has to work well is the car - the car always has to work well if you're going to have a good result. And it tends to be that the car was very strong in high-speed in previous years. We were relatively decent in the straights as well, in previous years.
"And both of them just come together well on this type of track. And therefore it's always been a good strength. So this year, we'll have to wait and see. Because neither of those are as strong as what they've been in the past.
"There's still some low-speed corners and things like that. So we still have a lot of opportunities, but it might not be maybe quite as good as previous years."
Related video

Seidl: F1 must find compromise in cost cap inflation debate
Zhou: Alfa Romeo roll hoop impact exceeded FIA requirements

Latest news
Aston Martin: CFD data shows F1 rear wing does not hurt rules intent
Aston Martin says simulation data it gave to the FIA proved that its radical rear wing idea did not scupper the intent of Formula 1's 2023 rules to improve racing.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
US fan demand can support "many more" F1 races, says COTA chief
The boss of the Circuit of The Americas believes there is enough demand from North American Formula 1 fans to support “many more” races in the United States.
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time F1 champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24. And now it’s happening again at his current team
Why few would blame Leclerc if he leaves Ferrari in future
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior.
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbon fibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? Pat Symonds considers the alternatives to carbon fibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting
The traits that fuelled Alonso's unexpected Aston Martin F1 move
Fernando Alonso’s bombshell switch to Aston Martin sent shockwaves through Formula 1, not least at Alpine that finds itself tangled in a contract standoff with Oscar Piastri. Not shy of a bold career move and with a CV punctuated by them, there were numerous hints that trouble was brewing.