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Lando Norris apologized to his team after a disastrous qualifying at the F1 Saudi Arabian GP. The McLaren driver showed strong promise after a stellar Q2 that saw him top the timesheets. However, an unexpected crash in the following session saw him exit the round dead last.
After a dominant run in the practice sessions, Norris was poised to be a strong contender for pole. Following Verstappen's fastest lap in Q1, the papaya driver took the lead in Q2 by 0.048 seconds over the reigning champion.
As Norris eyed another fast outing in Q3, trouble ensued when he hit the kerbs over turn 4 and lost control. Consequently, the Briton crashed into the barriers on his first lap attempt. Verstappen took advantage of the situation to grab the pole position on his final flying lap, albeit with fresh rubber.
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Talking to the media post-qualifying, Norris opened up about the incident and revealed that he apologised to his team for the botched effort.
"It’s been such a smooth, positive weekend so far, so we’re disappointed to have such a big setback but I’ve got to take it on the chin. I apologised to the team, to my mechanics and the engineers and try and go again tomorrow. The car's quick, the car's been good all weekend so [I] have to think hard to overtake the cars tomorrow," Lando Norris said via Formula1.com.
Lando Norris stands to lose his Championship lead on Sunday's race, while his closest rival and team mate Oscar Piastri, starts in the front row behind Max Verstappen.
Lando Norris aims for a top-five finish at Saudi Arabian Gp
Lando Norris revealed his target for the Saudi Arabian Gp, setting his sights on a top-five finish despite a tough qualifying session. The championship leader will line up tenth on the grid for the fastest circuit in the calendar.
Saturday's qualifying revealed a strong Red Bull challenge for the papaya drivers. Max Verstappen pipped Oscar Piastri for pole while Yuki Tsunoda starts two spots above Norris at eighth. Moreover, George Russell is also in contention for the top spot after recording one of the fastest laps during Q3.
Reflecting upon the same, Norris spoke about his probable result at the Jeddah Corniche circuit.
“I think a good amount but as Oscar showed we’re not head and shoulders above the rest. George [Russell] is only a tenth off and Max [Verstappen] is on pole so I don’t expect to get to the top few but there’s definitely a few cars ahead that we need to finish ahead of so if we can aim for a top five or something then I’ll be happy,” he said via Formula1.com
Lando Norris has a tough road ahead with Lewis Hamilton also looking to crack the top-five. Having done the same in the last round at Bahrain, Sunday's race looks to be an interesting proposition for the two Brits.
