Both McLaren drivers were left concerned by the pace of Renault during Friday practice at the Belgian Grand Prix.

After the two teams were covered by less than two-tenths in the morning, the French manufacturer stretched its legs in the afternoon, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing second at the same pace as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

While it's likely the Australian may slip back a little on Saturday, his pace still has McLaren wondering if they'll be able to keep up around Spa-Francorchamps.

“It was a good day, probably a better start than in Spain last time,” Lando Norris commented.

“I think we’re a bit closer to the top, compared to Mercedes, than we thought. Our relative pace to them is closer than normal, but they will probably turn it up tomorrow and be a long way ahead again, most likely.

“Renault are still four-tenths ahead of us though so it’s not amazing. I think we have a bit of work to do but the car is feeling good, it feels nice in the long runs and the short runs and I feel confident. So far so good.”

One factor the Briton notes that could help McLaren is the weather, but even in the dry Lando remains upbeat.

“I think the rain will play a bit of a part tomorrow and maybe on Sunday,” Norris continued. “Although we have good confidence I think anything can still happen. I did some mistakes today which could have put me much closer.

“Anything can happen here. Last year I qualified P11 and by the time I came out of Turn 1 I was P5. I’ll be aiming for that again.”

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As for teammate Carlos Sainz, he admits the vastly different characteristics of Spa versus Barcelona are playing to Renault's strengths.

"It's a very different track and the car is behaving differently in a much lower downforce configuration," said the Spaniard.

"You can see some things changing around: Renault look super quick and we look decent.

"I'm not surprised at all, because last year here and in Monza, they were very quick," he added.

"In low downforce configuration, their car seems to work really, really well.

"Honestly, we are happy with our performance today but, yes, that Racing Point and that Renault look a bit too quick for comfort at the moment."