Beaten by only 41 thousandths by George Russell in Zandvoort, Lando Norris feels he did not fully exploit the soft tires in SQ3.
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Lando Norris came very close to securing pole position for the Sprint of the Dutch Grand Prix. The McLaren driver was ultimately beaten by only 0.041 seconds by George Russell, after a particularly tight sprint qualifying session in Zandvoort.
The reigning world champion had taken the lead over the Mercedes driver during the first two parts of the session. But the switch from medium to soft tires in SQ3 changed the order.
Norris believes he did not manage to fully exploit the extra potential offered by the softest compound at the decisive moment.
“I’m quite satisfied, it’s still a good position. It was a decent lap and, given the gaps, I could easily have been first, or fourth or fifth,” admits Norris.
The switch to soft tires was decisive
The sprint qualifying regulations require the use of medium tires in SQ1 and SQ2 before the mandatory switch to softs in SQ3.
Norris had outpaced Russell in the first two phases, but the situation reversed with the soft tires. The Briton thinks he did not take full advantage of the grip gain during his last lap.
“I think it’s mainly the switch to softs. There was probably a bit more grip that I didn’t fully manage to exploit compared to the mediums in Q3. Maybe I just pushed a bit too hard.”
A small difference that proved decisive given how close the gaps were. The top four – Russell, Norris, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri – finished within the same tenth of a second.
“It was tight between all the teams, exactly as we expected. Obviously, I’m a bit disappointed to be second rather than first,” adds Norris.
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McLaren confirms progress seen in Budapest
Despite narrowly missing pole, Norris mainly notes the encouraging signs sent by McLaren. The British team had won its first Grand Prix of the season in Hungary before the summer break and seems to have maintained its competitiveness in Zandvoort.
“The car is working well and it seems we have continued our good momentum from Budapest. So there are many positives.”
The McLaren driver also believes there is still a small margin for improvement before the Grand Prix qualifying.
“There are some things I can work on and maybe a few elements we can still extract from the car for tomorrow’s qualifying. But we started the weekend well, so I’m happy with that.”
Norris cautious about the Sprint start
Before thinking about the Grand Prix qualifying, Norris will still have to try to convert his second place on the grid into a win during the Sprint.
A mission that could be complicated by the characteristics of Zandvoort, a circuit where overtaking remains difficult. The Briton also highlights another element: his grid position might offer less grip than Russell’s.
“It’s not a circuit where it’s easy to overtake and the inside of the grid is much worse than the left side. So, we’ll see.”
With only 41 thousandths separating Russell and Norris, the battle between Mercedes and McLaren promises to be particularly close during the Sprint.
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