Lando Norris finished fastest in practice for the Belgian Grand Prix and said McLaren must consider making him their undisputed number one in order to deliver the British team’s first world title in 16 years, writes Philip Duncan from PA.

Norris will be handed a golden opportunity to slash the 76-point championship deficit to Max Verstappen at Formula One’s concluding round before a four-week summer shutdown, with his rival to serve a 10-place grid sanction.

Verstappen’s Red Bull has been fitted with a fifth internal combustion engine, one more than the world champion is permitted, meaning the highest he can start will be 11th.

Verstappen has dominated in the Ardennes in recent years, winning the past three races staged at the menacing Spa-Francorchamps circuit. However, the 26-year-old will head into the weekend in damage limitation mode knowing Red Bull’s dominance has been eradicated.

Verstappen finished third on Friday, trailing the pace-setting Norris by 0.215 seconds. Oscar Piastri was second in the other McLaren.

The resurgent British team’s strong showing here comes five days after they claimed their first one-two finish in nearly three years, with Piastri winning for the first time at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

But McLaren’s impressive result was overshadowed by Norris’ understandable reluctance to give up the lead in the closing stages.

He started on pole but dropped behind Piastri, only to regain top spot as a result of stopping for tyres two laps earlier than his team-mate.

McLaren’s instruction to usher Norris aside raised eyebrows considering he is the driver best positioned to topple Verstappen. Norris has scored 40 points more than Piastri and is in his sixth season in F1. Piastri, a year younger at 23, has started just 35 races, and is 116 points behind Verstappen, the equivalent of nearly five victories, in the standings.

And although Norris insisted McLaren should not hand him immediate preferential treatment, he admitted it will become a factor if the team’s impressive form continues.

“I don’t know when that is,” said Norris when asked if McLaren should throw their weight behind him.

“Whether I’m 10 points behind Max, or 15 points, and then at what point then do you say (to Piastri) ‘can you help out more?’ I don’t know when that point is and that’s not my decision.

“Oscar deserved to win in Hungary. We are only halfway through the season, and we still have a hell of a long way to go, so maybe a little bit further down the line (we need to have that conversation), but that time is to be decided.

“I still need to earn it. I still need to go out there and drive quicker than everyone. I have had a chance the whole season and we have never had a bias in the team before.”

Norris and Piastri have been free to race, but this season marks the first that the former is a genuine champion contender. Norris might have won the last five races but for mistakes by driver and team.

The British driver was clearly irked by McLaren’s order at the Hungaroring, but his ensuing radio row with race engineer, Will Joseph, only masked that it was his sluggish start which provided the pit wall with a dilemma they might not have had.

Norris has three poles in his career – taking two in his previous five appearances – but he has failed to covert any of them into a win. Some in the paddock have suggested the weight of being a frontrunner is taking its toll on the grid’s most popular driver.

However, Norris drew support from the last man to win a title in a McLaren car in 2008.

“Ultimately all of us drivers put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” said Lewis Hamilton. “That is how we do it, and I don’t think you can be particularly great in life without putting pressure on yourself. You have to aim high.

“If you fail and you are relaxed about it I don’t think you are ever going to achieve what you want to achieve.

“Can you be tough on yourself? For sure. There was a time I didn’t leave my room for three days when I was his age, so I know what it’s like and that wasn’t healthy for me. But I don’t think Lando is locking himself in his room for three days and I hope he doesn’t.”

Hamilton finished a distant 10th in practice, 1.259 sec off the pace. George Russell was sixth in the other Mercedes.