F1 drivers face major new track limits challenge at United States Grand Prix
(Photo: Race Pictures)
Connor Andrews is Formula 1 and MotoGP writer for GPblog and various outlets. Having worked in motorsport for 15 years for leading companies, he has interviewed the sports biggest names and attended multiple Grands Prix.
Brown saw his two drivers off the pace in Free Practice 2 in seventh and eighth, following Lando Norris’ third in FP1.
Charles Leclerc led both sessions, and he was one of the only drivers not to struggle with track limits.
Multiple lap times were deleted, particularly in FP2, even for drivers in as good form as back-to-back race winner Max Verstappen and championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
In fact, one such incident even saw George Russell investigated for forcing Leclerc off the Austin circuit.
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Zak Brown predicts track limits trouble at United States Grand Prix
Commenting on a tricky session, Brown told Sky: "Everyone is struggling, sliding around. Everyone is struggling to keep it on the black stuff at the moment.
"This could be an interesting race when it comes to track limits. Keeping it on the black stuff will be a challenge for everyone."
Despite the difficulties, Brown was still pleased with what he saw.
He added: "Lando's definitely much quicker than his lap time. I think we're much quicker than we look.
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“I don't think our lap times at the moment are representative of our total pace.”
Lando Norris believes McLaren have more pace than results suggest
Giving his take on the session, Norris added: “Yeah, it's just difficult. Just impossible to pull it all off together.
“There are signs of good pace at the minute, but to go into qualifying now and be able to repeat that every lap and do it on demand is just too difficult.
“I'm sure it's the same for everyone, honestly. I think we just need to make some small tweaks to the car. Nothing crazy.
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“It's tough, and maybe our car, at the minute, the handling is just a little bit difficult to get right.
“So maybe small things in a few different areas can help us out. But the pace is there or thereabouts, so we can still be optimistic going into tomorrow.”
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