After his performance at Silverstone where he successfully converted his front-row start into a second-place finish, Norris anticipated a much harder time of it at the Hungaroring circuit, noting after the British Grand Prix that the McLaren's performance in low-speed corners was still "poor".
McLaren nonetheless impressed in qualifying in Hungary, locking out the second row of the grid as Norris missed out on pole by 0.085s and Oscar Piastri claimed fourth on the grid.
Although Norris admitted to some surprise in his qualifying rewards, he suggested that the Hungaroring is closer to a medium-speed circuit layout, despite its reputation as a downforce-heavy venue.
He noted that the McLaren may struggle in select corners over the rest of the season, feeling that La Source was a likely spot that would sap time from the team's competitive laps.
"I think the thing is that everyone says Budapest is a slow-speed circuit. But really I’d say it's a lot closer to medium speed. You never even use second gear around the whole circuit," Norris suggested.
"The slower speed is where we struggle. so where we’re the worst is in the chicane, Turn 1, and Turn 12. That’s where we lose a lot of our time, but definitely close, to be only eight hundredths off pole position.
"I think it's still clear that we’ve got some weaknesses and those weaknesses are going to show in certain places, even in Spa we're going to struggle in certain places even more, like Turn 1.
"I'm already scared of Turn 1 in Spa. But yeah, there's many other things which are obviously very positive and if we're still here and under a tenth off pole position.
"I'm happy, the team are doing a great job. I'm very proud of the progress we’ve made. I guess I'm surprised to be in P3, but a good surprise, especially with Oscar in P4."
Source: Autosport