Norris’s Consistency
This unexpected spring break in F1, which remains stationary for over a month due to the cancellations of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races because of the war that broke out in Iran and the Persian Gulf countries, is also useful to give time to recover some particular and perhaps less conspicuous statistics which however help us to better capture some ongoing trends.
Read more From Spain: Alonso to Honda HRC and Holgado to Gresini (which stays with Ducati)
This is the case, for example, of Lando Norris, whose figure has somewhat disappeared from the headlines of newspapers and dedicated media in this first phase of 2026 after McLaren’s #4 took home a hard-fought world title in the grand finale of the 2025 season, in Abu Dhabi. Few perhaps will have noticed, but the reigning British champion is currently the holder of the longest streak of consecutive Q3 appearances.
Always in Q3
Norris has not missed the top-10 of a qualifying session for 34 GPs. The last time he failed to enter Q3 was September 14, 2024. In that case Norris was only 17th in qualifying for the Azerbaijan GP, which was then won by his teammate Oscar Piastri, while the Englishman was able to climb back to the foot of the podium, crossing the finish line in fourth position.
Read more Aston Martin sinks, Stroll laughs: “Fernando and I are racing in our own championship”
In these last 34 race weekends, Norris has also been the driver to win the most pole positions, as many as 11, against 8 for Max Verstappen and 6 for Oscar Piastri. It is important to note how the papaya team’s standard-bearer has managed to continue this trend even at the start of this new regulatory era, despite all the reliability troubles McLaren has suffered. One could say that he is, at this moment, the ‘Mr. Saturday’ of F1, a nickname that in the past had been given to his friend and compatriot George Russell for his tendency to beat his teammates almost always in qualifying.
Read more Who draws more on TV between Antonelli, Bezzecchi and Sinner?
