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Three-time W Series champion and Sky Sports Formula 1 analyst Jamie Chadwick has tempered expectations about McLaren's return to the front of the grid.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri qualified sixth and seventh for the Austrian Grand Prix. While the Woking outfit proved it remains in the mix behind Mercedes and Ferrari, the team lacked the ultimate single-lap pace to challenge George Russell for pole position.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 following qualifying, Chadwick stressed that while the team's long-term trajectory remains positive, immediate expectations must be managed.
"Slowly but surely, we should expect McLaren to return to form, but we shouldn't expect it now," she explained.
"That said, things are so close that it doesn't take much for them to end up on a podium here or there. That is probably what they are searching for at the moment."
Piastri claimed that seventh place "feels like a realistic reflection" of where the team is currently placed.
"P7. Today’s result feels like a realistic reflection of where we are at the moment," the Australian driver said in McLaren's post-qualifying report. "We did a good job of maximising our package, and the lap times between myself and Lando have been incredibly close all weekend, which suggests we extracted nearly everything we could from the car.
Lando Norris, McLaren
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Lando Norris, McLaren
"Unfortunately, we're just missing that final bit of pace compared to our closest competitors. We can see Mercedes has an edge, and Ferrari are strong, so we know the areas we need to improve.
"Looking ahead to the race, it will be hot, so tyre management will be absolutely key, especially as the competition around us will be very tight on race pace. We will analyse everything overnight and see what we can do strategy-wise. We’ll give it our best and see what we can achieve."
Norris's post-qualifying thoughts echoed his team-mate's sentiment.
"Overall, it’s been a good day, and P6 is a result we aren't too far away with. It’s easy to look at the practice times and hope for more, but we know the cars ahead are strong as we’ve seen throughout the season.
"Realistically, this is probably where we currently are in the pack, but we have our strengths in the package that we’ll look to exploit, and we're close enough to be in the fight tomorrow.
"The race is going to be incredibly hot, and tyre degradation will be a major factor, much like it was in Barcelona. A lot can happen with strategy and pit stops, but if we can manage the race well and take advantage of any opportunities, we’ll be in condition to secure a good result."
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