A dejected Lando Norris bemoans: "It’s another one I’ve thrown away"

McLaren driver Lando Norris mentioned that he threw away another pole position in the 2023 season after he finished P5 in the Abu Dhabi GP qualifying session.

The young Brit was P2 heading into his final lap of the session and had to make up around four-tenths to have a shot at pole position. He went fastest in the first sector, had a personal best in the second, and was on course for his target, only to have a wild moment heading into Turn 14 and 15.

Norris had to catch his car amidst a slide that cost him valuable time and meant that he finished the session in P5 after he could not improve on his time. In his post-qualification interview with Sky Sports, Lando Norris said:

“The car was very good out there, I was on a lap quick enough to go P1, but I didn’t do it, so it’s another Saturday that I’ve just thrown away, I’m disappointed. I don’t know what happened. A little bit of the car ahead… I’m not going to blame him for getting in my way, it’s just unfortunate I caught a car there.

“It makes the tiniest difference but we’re close enough on the limit on the final quali lap that the tiniest difference can upset the car completely. It’s a shame because it should have been very different, so I’m disappointed with myself.”

---

McLaren team boss gives his take on Lando Norris's missed shot at pole position

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella stated that Lando Norris had a shot at the pole position in the qualifying session at the Abu Dhabi GP on Saturday, November 25.

Stella claimed that the Briton got a lot of oversteer in his car, saying, via F1.com:

The car was competitive which allowed Lando and Oscar to fight for the top positions of the grid. On Lando’s side, it was there for pole position until the second to last corner, where unfortunately he had a large oversteer and lost a lot of lap time. Nevertheless, we are confident for the race and we look forward to finishing the season on a high.”

Starting from P3 and P5 for Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, respectively, McLaren will have a better shot than their rival Aston Martin to seal the battle for P4 in the championship.

The Woking-based team has an advantage of 11 points on Aston Martin and would look to convert their qualifying performance into positive race results.