© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Lando Norris says Mercedes’ engines don’t have a ‘party mode’ and sends a message to Lewis Hamilton: “Sometimes, when you are a bit off, you can create things in your head.”
After the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint Race, Lewis Hamilton said he knows from his time at Mercedes, that the team “has another [engine] mode that they’re able to go to, a bit like a ‘party mode’ back in the day”.
When Lando Norris, who drives for Mercedes’ customer team McLaren, was asked to comment on this, he completely shut down such claims.
“We don’t have that, so maybe he is used to his old days when they had it back then,” Norris said.
“So sometimes, when you are a bit off, you can create things in your head.”
Norris added that although Ferrari might have the best cornering speed right now, Mercedes has better straight-line speed.
“I wouldn’t say Ferrari has much more of an advantage. They were quicker [in the Sprint] and quicker now, but we have a better power unit than Ferrari, and that is our advantage, that we have more straight-line speed.
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“But [Ferrari] is still a car which drives around some of the corners quicker than a Mercedes, so to keep up with them in the corners and try to get them in the straight is difficult.
“Between [Mercedes and Ferrari], they are strong in different areas – they have better tyre management and grip, and so it is easier to look after the tyres.
“That way, we have to push like hell in the corners to keep up and then catch up on the straight. So, that’s kind of the wrong end of the stick [that] you want to be in on a race situation at times.
“But we’re certainly not out of the picture in racing them, but it will be difficult. Everywhere, we see that the Mercedes improved in the corners throughout qualifying.
“They had good deployment and [are] on top of everything that they need to be on top of.
“So, they’re just doing a very good job, it is as simple as that,” the Briton concluded.
