Norris criticizes current F1 cars again: 'We simply have no battery left'

Norris finished second in FP2, ending the session around two tenths of a second behind pacesetter Kimi Antonelli.

Still, the British driver does not believe they can battle the rival teams over the rest of the weekend. He said: "I mean, we’ve not really changed anything this weekend, so there’s no reason for us to expect anything different.

He suspects that the Mercedes power unit in his car was closer to its full potential already on Friday. He added: "I think we probably turned up [the power unit] with Mercedes, and the rest of them didn’t.

The Briton was also once again critical of how much they have to lift over a single lap. "I mean, there's just a lack of deployment everywhere. Every single straight, we lack deployment, to be honest. I think the worst one is through Blanchimont. We go from almost 320 to 270 because we just have no battery left. So every single straight, we're clipping."

Norris already heads into the Belgian Grand Prix on the back foot. Before the on-track action even got underway at Spa-Francorchamps, it was confirmed that the McLaren driver would receive a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding the permitted number of power electronics units for the season.

"We have chosen to do this in Belgium, a circuit where overtaking is relatively more prevalent, as opposed to the following two events in Hungary and Zandvoort. We now plan to use this fourth power electronics unit for the remainder of the season, in order to maximize reliability while minimizing sporting penalties on Lando," the team explained.