Windsor brings good news to Verstappen fans, but warns of Norris

During the first free practice at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Verstappen topped the timing sheets in FP1. "Red Bull not so quick in terms of the lap time on the light fuel. Again, I don't think we should read too much into that. We'll see tomorrow where they go. But certainly with fuel in the car and with any sort of balance, Max Verstappen right up there as well," said Windsor on his YouTube channel.

According to the analyst, it was striking that throught the day of activities on Friday in Canada Norris was in much better shape than teammate Oscar Piastri, although they both struggled a lot during the first practice session. McLaren has brought a new front wing to the circuit in North America, with special ‘mermaid tails’ for aerodynamics.

Windsord also sees another area where Norris would have the edge on Piastri. He thinks the driver with the number four on the car can perform well on this circuit because it suits him better than other tracks. "Looks like a great circuit for Lando Norris actually. Not as short of corners as say Kimi Henteneli or Max Verstappen, but looking very good nonetheless Not as short of corners as say [Andrea] Kimi Antonelli or Max Verstappen, but looking very good nonetheless in the McLaren."

Norris himself didn't quite feel that way, though, as he said to F1TV cameras after FP2. "The track's difficult, but it's definitely been our worst Friday of the year, I would say, so far. Maybe not worst in terms of pace, but just most difficult to put together and most tricky."