Lando Norris makes his feelings known after securing pole position for the F1 Qatar GP sprint
Lando Norris revealed after securing pole position for the F1 Qatar GP sprint that this was closer than what he had expected. The McLaren driver secured pole for the sprint by a margin of just .063 from Mercedes driver George Russell.
Coming into the race weekend, the track characteristics did lean heavily towards McLaren, as the fast-flowing sections are where the car tends to be in its element. With that being said, P1 had shown Ferrari having impressive pace.
Coming into the sprint qualifying, McLaren was not the outright favorite, as Ferrari was also considered to be in contention. When the session unfolded, however, that's not how things panned out, as by SQ3, Lando Norris and McLaren in general had pulled out a gap over the chasing pack.
For the sprint on Saturday, Lando Norris would start the race on pole with teammate Oscar Piastri in P3. Talking to Sky Sports afterwards, Norris acknowledged that he didn't expect the chasing pack to be this close. He said:
"Job done for today, so we’re happy. We wanted to come back after Vegas and do such a thing, and that’s what we did, so we’re happy. We knew this track would suit us a lot more. Looking back at last year it was one of our strongest circuits, so we expected to come here and be quick. It was probably a bit closer than what I would have I liked, honestly."
Lando Norris does not expect a straightforward race on Saturday
Talking about the sprint, the driver was confident that the car had strong pace. He was, however, also wary of the challenge that the Mercedes of George Russell could pose.
The dirty side of the track could still be a concern for Russell, but it remains to be seen how Lando Norris conducts the start, as that is something that has been a concern for him in the past. He said (via Sky Sports):
"I felt confident, especially into qualifying. In practice we were quick but still struggling quite a bit and a good step off the Ferraris. Into qualifying, we made some improvements, but I think the car really took a step forward and I could extract a lot more out of it. Happy with today’s job for sure, but the real job is tomorrow."
He added:
"I expect them all to be a challenge tomorrow. I don’t expect an easy race, for sure. I think the long run stuff could easily suit the Mercedes a bit more than it suits us, but I’m still hopeful that we can get a good race in. And we want to score maximum points from a constructor point of view, even though the points are minimal and one position is a point, we still want to go out and get every point we can."
Lando Norris would be taking a lot of confidence in the fact that the car is strong around this track and would be hoping to build on it this weekend.