“As a driver, I’m not the happiest”: Lando Norris rues missed chance to bag pole in the Hungarian GP after qualifying P3

Lando Norris managed to set the third-fastest lap time at the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday, taking McLaren's recent spike in progress another step further.

With Oscar Piastri set to start fourth in the race tomorrow, McLaren have proven that their upgrades and improvements were not only specific to suiting Silverstone, but that the team is here to fight to get back to the top of the midfield.

While Lando Norris would have certainly been happier to have taken the second-ever pole position of his career this afternoon, there is no doubt that the McLaren garage will be celebrating tonight.

In a post-qualifying media interaction, the Briton said:

"I'm disappointed. If you're within a tenth of pole it feels like you should be on pole if you put the lap together. I guess with the overall picture I'm happy. The team did a good job with P3 and P4. A good weekend so far. As a driver I'm not the happiest, I feel I made too many mistakes and it cost me today."

He added:

"There's always little things - just putting the lap together. It wasn't the cleanest. There's always an element of risk involved in trying to push a bit more. Nothing major. There was definitely a tenth in it. Frustrating. I'm happy. P3 is still a good position, so still a good day."

---

Lando Norris admits he is not too happy with MCL60, despite improvements in performance

Despite the significant improvements McLaren have made with their upgrades in recent weeks, Lando Norris admitted that it is not entirely suited to his driving style.

Ever since the team brought in upgrades in Austria, Norris has seen a boost in performance, although the 23-year-old claims that the car is not suited to his strengths.

As reported by Sky Sports F1, Lando Norris said:

“I mean, it’s not just my liking, it’s also Oscar’s because we have pretty similar comments. It’s the same as last year, even when Daniel [Ricciardo] was driving, we had a lot of similar comments every day, every weekend. It’s just difficult to describe, I feel like I’m having a debrief now! But it’s just… you have to drive one way. But it’s also a way that I don’t want to drive, or would like to drive."

He added:

“I know it wasn’t a thing that, say, Daniel liked to drive the car that way. But, yeah, I don’t like to drive the car the way that I have to drive it. I feel like it isn’t to my strengths at all. I want to be able to carry minimum speed and ‘U’ a corner. The last thing I can do in the world now is ‘U’ a corner. I have to ‘V’ the corner more than ever. I have never been the biggest fan of doing that, and I don’t like it that much."

Given his performance over the last few weeks, one can only imagine what the McLaren driver will be able to pull out of the bag with a car he believes is suited to his strengths.