Lando Norris will start in second place for the F1 Qatar GP after missing out on pole to his teammate Oscar Piastri during the qualifying session.
Norris’s first Q3 run saw him set the fastest time of 1:19.495 to top the timesheets by 0.035s. However, on his second attempt, he went wide and had to back out before returning to the pits.
Norris explains Q3 error
During the post-qualifying press conference, Norris addressed whether he would have attempted another lap after aborting his final run.
“I had no fuel, so I can’t do that,” he said before answering a follow-up question about how much he might have improved if he’d been able to run another lap. “No idea. Don’t care now, it’s too late.”
“So Oscar did a very good job today, as in the whole weekend. I certainly felt a bit more comfortable in the car today that I could push it a bit more in the way I wanted. So I felt better. I felt like I did a good first lap. I felt like there was plenty of places I thought I could go quicker. I think turn two wasn’t necessarily one of them but it was one where I just caught a bit of an understeer for some reason and that was it,” he said, explaining his second lap mistake.
“So yeah, frustrating because I certainly think I could have done a better job and improved on my lap a good amount, but I didn’t. So second on the grid for tomorrow.”
Qualifying compared to Sprint
Earlier in the Sprint, Norris started and finished third, as Verstappen chased him early and Russell held second in the closing laps.
Reflecting on how much happier he was with the car during qualifying, Norris said: “A lot, yeah. Obviously it’s not made me do much better but it’s certainly, I still felt a lot better. I felt like I could at least challenge for pole today and I also had a lot of damage on the car in the end of SQ3 yesterday. So I think that certainly helps as well.”
“But yeah, it’s second. Obviously, like Oscar said, long run down to turn one is a good opportunity for anyone to gain or lose positions. Otherwise, apart from that, I think it’s going to be a pretty boring and straightforward race,” as tire degradation and physical demands increase lap by lap at the Lusail International Circuit.
Championship outlook
With Norris leading the championship with 396 points and Piastri behind with 374, he has the opportunity to claim the title if he wins the F1 Qatar GP. However, the Brit noted that his approach to the Grand Prix does not change despite the championship possibilities.
“Just the same as every day,” Norris said. “I’m second, so not a lot of chance for me to win at the minute. But yeah, I just focus on trying to get a good start, that’s all.”
