After two FP sessions on Friday where he was fastest, and another good P2 result in FP3, Lando Norris took P3 in mixed conditions in the F1 Hungarian GP Qualifying. The McLaren driver was taken by surprise by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who pulled an incredible Q3 flying lap. Furthermore, Norris and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, narrowly avoided a collision in FP2. This unexpected grid for Sunday’s race will require Norris and Piastri to work together flawlessly.
In terms of points coming into this last race before summer break, the Briton sits comfortably in second place in the championship. While Piastri and he share the same number of podiums, 11, there is a 16-point difference at the top. Nevertheless, this F1 Hungarian GP will give Norris the chance to overtake Piastri, both on track and in the standings if a number of things went his way.
Disappointing outlook in Parc Fermé
Despite McLaren’s wishes, tomorrow’s race will not start with a Papaya 1-2. Norris admitted to this sense of disappointment over the final grid for the F1 Hungarian GP. However, he spoke of the Monegasque in pole position with great appreciation, recognising McLaren’s lack of pace in Q3.
“I mean, yeah. From how our form is, of course. But I think Charles did a good job on the last lap, probably risked a little bit more in these conditions. The wind changed a lot and really seemed to punish us in a bigger way. So, I mean, not too many complaints. We thought we both did some good laps at the end, and we were just slow. Nothing to complain of, but Charles did a good job.
“Yeah, it’s just, I mean, it’s a long lap with many corners, so it’s tricky. But by Q2, I think we showed how quick we can go and our advantage. But as soon as the wind changed, everything went away, and the last sector became even trickier again. Not an easy lap to put things together. When you do it, it feels nice. When you don’t, like in Q3, not so happy.”
By overtaking Piastri and Leclerc and crossing the chequered flag P1 tomorrow afternoon, Norris’ position in the standings will look a whole lot better heading into the summer break.
“Both. I want to go forward and I want to win. And if I can do that, then I’ll get points. I think it’s going to be an exciting race. I would expect us to have a bit more pace than Charles, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Frustrations prevailed after bizarre conditions
Still, after such a good start to the F1 Hungarian GP weekend, Lando Norris was left to rue the wind changes in Q3. After his teammate explained the situation from his perspective, Norris agreed wholeheartedly. The switch in the direction of the wind ruined his final flying laps. While he remained confident after Q2, that feeling slipped away as the wind intensified.
“I’ll just copy and paste, yeah. Exactly the same. Q2 felt very good, felt confident to improve. So, into Q3, aiming for a similar lap time, similar limits, and just felt pretty dreadful. Same things. I wasn’t surprised that I was a 15.4 in the first run. But in the second lap, it’s just hard to know how much more to push or not push. And I was like, ‘oh, it’s a much better lap’, and I was 15.4 again. So just similar things.“
Additionally, this Q3 pointed out an issue with the seemingly near perfect MCL39. The Briton explained how the wind appeared to have ruined their laps the most out of all the other teams. Norris claimed that the drop in track temperature had nothing to do with the lack of pace. According to him, it came from “just the wind”:
“The wind has such big effects on the car when you’re driving. It’s quite easy for it to be half a second swing. So yeah, frustrating because we definitely seem to have a good gap, but in Q3 it seemed to drift away from us as a team more than it did for others.”
Future predictions for Sunday
Leaving this strange moment of weakness from McLaren, Norris will now set his attention on making up positions during the F1 Hungarian GP race.
While the rain might cause some mayhem, the Briton believes the MCL39 will prevail in race conditions.
Talking about possible struggles, Lando Norris mentioned Charles Leclerc and Ferrari as their biggest competitor. The Monegasque has taken that role from Max Verstappen recently.
“It depends what the weather is. Like the others said, could be some rain, which normally makes things more interesting. But I think we always have, at least in the race, a bit more of an advantage.
“But our main competitor over the last four, five races has been Charles, and it’s been the Ferrari. So, if there was anyone else that’s going to be on pole today, it was going to be Charles. And if there’s anyone that’s going to make our life tough tomorrow, it’s going to be the same guy.
“So yeah, we’ll see. It’s a long race, things can happen, and hopefully the rain can be on our side, maybe.”
