Pole position
It seems that Lando Norris has unlocked himself and even with a car that in terms of performance is not comparable to the one he drove last year, the reigning world champion is starting to string together great results: after the victory in Hungary and the third place in this morning’s Sprint, here comes a splendid pole position in qualifying, even more valuable since it came by beating the two Mercedes drivers – Russell and Antonelli – and on a track made tricky by a light drizzle.
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Speaking at the press conference at the end of Q3, Norris explained that he gave everything in his last attempt, which proved decisive to grab pole position: “I don’t know how much the rain influenced – commented the English McLaren driver – the track cooled down and the tires worked better. I knew I had to attack everywhere, because it would be [a tight challenge]. It was a lap where I told myself I had nothing to lose“.
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But the car is not perfect
However, Norris is not fooled by today’s result and is aware that the MCL40 still has weak points that could limit the chances of victory for tomorrow: “We haven’t changed much – he emphasized, referring to the adjustments made to the car between the Sprint and Qualifying – the car didn’t seem much better in the areas where we struggled. Simply the low fuel and new tires mask our problems. Our car is very strong in fast corners and struggles a lot in slow ones. These will be the most difficult tomorrow”, he concluded. Meanwhile, the first position on the grid is his.
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