Norris shrugs off Red Bull 'trick' of the trade at US Grand Prix

McLaren’s Lando Norris said he felt calm and confident on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix and did not expect rivals Red Bull to lose performance after making requested car alterations.

McLaren's Lando Norris said he felt calm and confident on Thursday ahead of this weekend's United States Grand Prix and did not expect rivals Red Bull to lose performance after making requested car alterations.

The champion team admitted they had made changes after talks with the sport's ruling body the International Motoring Federation (FIA), widely reported to have concerned a "trick" mechanism to control the ride height of their cars.

Red Bull have denied making use of the device.

"It's one thing having it on your car and a second if you're using it," said Norris who is 52 points behind Red Bull's three-time world champion Max Verstappen with six races remaining.

Verstappen will be seeking to end a run of eight races without a victory in Sunday's contest at the Circuit of the Americas.

“So, if it has been helping them, if they’ve been utilising it in the way people think they have, then maybe it will shift in our direction, but when you talk about things like that, they’re not going to have got several pole positions or wins just because of such a device,” Norris.

“So I don’t think it will really change anything in the scheme of things -- maybe at certain qualifying when it’s been split by hundreds of a second or even thousands. Then you might say, ‘ok, well, maybe this has helped in that direction or this direction’,” he added.