"Nothing, just lack of talent": A desolate Lando Norris reacts after watching Oscar Piastri win the 2023 F1 Qatar GP sprint

Lando Norris has critiqued himself, stating it was "lack of talent" when his teammate and Formula One rookie beat him to win the sprint race in Qatar on Saturday.

Norris narrowly missed securing pole position for Saturday's Sprint race when he ran a little wide at the final corner, which resulted in him losing time. He crossed the line and settled for a second-place start while his teammate took his first-ever Sprint pole in Formula One.

Despite starting from the front row, Norris had a terrible start where he dropped down the grid in the first lap. But he managed to recover in time.

His teammate Oscar Piastri led the sprint race but briefly lost the lead to Mercedes' George Russell. As Russell's soft tyres started to drop pace, Piastri was quick to re-take the lead and went on to win the race. He was followed by Max Verstappen in second and Norris in third.

Qatar F1 GP Auto Racing

During the post-race interview, when asked about what was tricky for him, Lando Norris said:

"Nothing, just lack of talent,” Norris said. (via F1TV/Post-race interview).

He continued:

“I guess everyone has those weekends. This is the weekend for me. It’s just a shame I’m doing it when the cars is as quick as it is, so that’s what makes it more frustrating. It was very tough. Any chance to go backwards, I pretty much took.”

Norris went on to blame himself for his performance but praised his McLaren team for all the hard work they had done to get an amazing result. Norris also praised his young teammate for winning his first sprint race.

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Fans offer their support to a dejected Lando Norris after the Sprint Race at Qatar

Lando Norris missed out on pole position for the sprint race and after a poor start, he missed out on a potential win too.

McLaren's rookie Oscar Piastri beat his teammate to gain his first-ever Formula One Sprint race win. Norris stated that "it hurt" to see Piastri win before him. Norris has never finished higher than second in his career.

His best chance to win a Formula One race was in Russia in 2021, where he took his maiden pole position and led the race, but he misjudged the tricky wet conditions.

Fans flooded Norris' social media profile with support after he was seen criticizing himself.

This is what some fan wrote:

"I felt bad. Like I remember Yuki after Australia 2022 said: 'Nothing [wrong with the car] I was just slow," one fan wrote.

"He’s literally making me feel horrible for not being able to make him feel okay. It’s a t0rture to see him like that and it’s breaking my heart and soul," another wrote.

"The fact that everyone's silent bcuz they knew he wasn't feeling good about himself atm... LANDO YOU'RE ENOUGH AND DOING GREAT"

"He knows it deep down, he has talent, he’s just struggling this weekend and that’s okay to have moments like that. I just hope it hasn’t knocked his confidence down to much because he has the potential to have wins."

"Lol plenty of talent with LN. Just needs to go through the data and identify some places he can improve."

Lando Norris will start today's Qatar Grand Prix from 10th place after his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits. Meanwhile, his teammate, whose track time was also deleted for the same reason, will start from sixth place.