Norris will try to take fewer risks in qualifying: "Sometimes I'm a bit too impatient"

Sunday Lando Norris made up for his mistake from the day before in Jeddah rather well. The day after his accident in Q3, on his first flying lap, the Briton climbed from 10th place on the grid to 4th place at the finish of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. While the English driver saved the day by scoring 12 points – even if he lost the championship lead toOscar piastri – this result remains disappointing in view of the potential of the McLaren MCL39 and the pace shown at the start of the weekend during Free Practice. Without his Q3 crash on Saturday, Lando Norris would have been a serious contender for victory in Jeddah, but instead, he leaves the Arabian Peninsula without a podium finish.

And this isn't the first time Lando Norris has jeopardized his chances of victory due to a qualifying error. The previous week in Bahrain, the 25-year-old driver also messed up his final attempt and had to start from 6th place, while at the same time, his teammate took pole position and victory the next day. While the Englishman doesn't hide the fact that he has difficulties with the handling of his car in the fast laps, especially with the rear axle of the MCL39, he is also aware that his risk-taking in qualifying, to try to fill these gaps, is certainly too great and costs him dearly from an accounting point of view.

“I’ve been very confident during my races. It’s my qualifying and my Saturdays that aren’t good enough right now, my one-lap pace. It’s because, as I said before, I’m struggling a bit with the car. (…) [Saturday] it wasn’t because of the car, it was just me trying to take too many risks., Lando Norris acknowledged after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, at the F1 microphone. So I need to get back on track. It's clear that I have the rhythm and everything is there. Sometimes I try to ask a little too much and sometimes I'm a little too impatient and I want to do the most perfect lap, but I just need to relax a little. A little break is welcome, I'll come back even stronger."

Norris surrendered « life is quite difficult"

Although he failed to find the right balance in qualifying, Lando Norris can take comfort in his consistently good race pace. In Jeddah, he failed to reach the podium, just one second behind Charles Leclerc. With better racing intelligence, especially in his duel against Lewis Hamilton At the start of the race, the Briton could easily have secured a place on the third step.

"I think this is the best result we could have achieved today, nevertheless believes the McLaren driver. It's clear that we're not that far above the others. As Oscar showed, it wasn't an easy race. Max probably would have won if he hadn't had a penalty. These aren't easy races, which means that when I make mistakes, like [on Saturday], because I don't do the right thing, then I make life quite difficult for myself. I'm still happy with my comeback today, it's the best I could do." In the championship, Lando Norris is now second with 2 points, ten points behind the new leader, Oscar Piastri. In the sporting and psychological duel between the two McLaren teammates, the Australian has taken the lead over the Briton.

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