McLaren believes P8 and P9 in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying is a fairer reflection of their true pace this season.
In the two races in Austria, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz both started third on the grid due to different circumstances, whether it be Lewis Hamilton’s penalty the first week or rain in the second.
But around the Hungaroring, the British team has slipped back to fifth in the pecking order after Racing Point and Ferrari showed their potential.
“We did a very good job in the first two weekends, and we outscored a lot of quicker cars, but I think today was more realistically where we should have been,” Norris said afterwards.
“I’m happy to be as close as I was to a couple of the cars ahead of us, but I think this was where we expect to be, unlike the first two weekends.
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“It’s not a shock. I don’t think I’m disappointed in any way, I don’t think my lap would have put me a load of positions up or anything.
“For once, I’m kind of happy that I’m P8.”
On Friday, both McLaren drivers were surprised at their lack of the pace in practice and indeed Sainz does believe the team has been “exposed” around the high downforce Hungaroring.
For Norris though it has only highlighted areas for improvement.
“We knew Ferrari was going to make a decent jump coming to this track, so I’m not too disappointed,” the Briton continued.
“It gives us a chance to find out a bit more of our weaknesses, instead of thinking how good we were over the last two weekends.
“Compared to some teams, we’ve made good improvements, compared to last year. That’s the main positive.
“It was a positive compared to where we started the weekend.
“I think we weren’t the happiest as a pairing of Carlos and myself with the car, and I think we made some good changes overnight and into today.
“We were happy to get into Q3 and do what we did.”
