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Earlier today, Lando Norris suffered a disappointing end to his qualifying efforts for tomorrow's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix after crashing into the wall during the Q3 period, putting him in the middle of the grid. Now, Zak Brown, team principal of McLaren, has made his prediction for Norris' performance during the race, stating that with a single pit stop and a possible safety car, he'll be fast enough. Brown has also advised that the Briton should just be focused on the race and not worry about qualifying.
At the exit on turn five, the McLaren driver jumped over the kerb, which caused him to lose control of his vehicle and collide with the barriers. Zak Brown, speaking about his expectations from his driver, said [via Junaid Samodien on X]:
"Just focus on the race tomorrow. Probably a one stop and a highly likely to be a safety car. He be quick then where he qualified"
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After his qualifying performance put him in P6 for the race in Bahrain, Lando Norris was able to climb up and score a third-place finish. The British driver was probably hoping for a better start for this weekend's GP, after he made it into Q2 with a time of 1:27.805, which was followed by a 1:27.481 that put him at the top for the Q3 session. However, his crash during will now see him start the event from tenth place on the grid. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, will be starting in second place after consistently being in the top three of every qualifying period.
Max Verstappen will be the pole-sitter for the race, and behind Piastri is George Russell, followed by Charles Leclerc, Kimi Antonelli, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, and Pierre Gasly, making up the grid ahead of Lando Norris for tomorrow's race.
Lando Norris lets the expletives fly after the Turn 5 crash
After Lando Norris hit the wall during the third qualifying period at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit earlier today, he first radioed his team to let them know he was okay, but then beat himself up for his errors. After the difficult Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend, Norris was self-critical about his performance, and the Briton didn't hold back on the thoughts of starting P10 on Sunday.
"a f**king idiot," Norris called himself on the radio. [via RacingNews365]
Heading into tomorrow's race, Lando Norris continues to lead the fight for the drivers' championship, having accumulated a total of 77 points. However, the margin between him and his teammate, Oscar Piastri, who sits in second place in the standings, is only three points. Current pole sitter Max Verstappen is also only eight points behind Norris, so he (Norris) will have to fight hard tomorrow to keep his lead in the standings.
