Lando Norris: “There was a way to get on pole”

He was left furious with himself in Qatar two weeks ago. In Losail, Lando Norris had made a series of errors, particularly in qualifying, leaving his teammate Oscar piastri enter fully into the light.

While McLaren did not expect to be so lively on the COTA side, the Briton still managed to get back to the front line, Norris failing 0''130 behind pole sitter Charles Leclerc (Ferrari).

If he was satisfied to have avoided the kind of approximations which plagued his Qatari weekend, the McLaren driver regretted having missed the opportunity to sign a new career pole position. It would have been the second after the one won in Sochi (Russia) in 2021.

« We probably didn't expect such a result, but it's a good thing for the whole team, Norris reacted Friday evening in Texas. I didn't make as many mistakes as last time (in Qatar. Editor’s note), which is a good thing.

I think there was a way to get pole position. I know that Charles (Leclerc) said he made a few mistakes, but me too, it's a bit of a shame. We may have missed another opportunity, but I'm still happy. »

Asked where he had gone wrong, the McLaren driver provided further details.

« Turn 11 is where it all went wrong, Norris said. In this area, we struggled a bit with the car's consistency and braking performance. The car ran a little better than I expected. I braked later, but the car also turned better.

I thought I was going to miss the rope point. And I ended up hitting the vibrator. But when you do that, you are penalized throughout the descent that follows. You drop half a tenth at the start, then another in the sector that follows, if not more. The rest of the tour was very good. I was particularly very satisfied with the first turn and sector 1. »

With Max Verstappen “only” 6th on the grid, Norris, who will make his 100th start this weekend, does he have the means to achieve this first victory which has eluded him since his debut? F1 in 2019?

Response Sunday from 21:00 p.m. French time.