After setting the third fastest time during the third session (Q3) of Saturday’s 2024 F1 Qatar GP qualifying session, McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris will start Sunday’s race from the second row, alongside teammate Oscar Piastri.
Norris “happy with the lap” despite tricky Qatar GP qualifying
Despite a strong performance during Saturday’s sprint race, which saw Norris finish second after handing the win to teammate Piastri, Norris suffered a “tricky” qualifying session. However, while the British driver expressed disappointment in his qualifying position, he claimed that he was “happy” with the lap that had allowed him to claim P3. He added that McLaren’s performance during qualifying had been the “maximum” that the team could achieve.
“Yes. Yeah, not the position we were hoping for after yesterday and today, but the maximum we could do, for sure.”
“My lap was pretty good. I was pretty happy with the lap. Just not quick enough comparing to the others.”
“So happy with the lap, happy I got everything out of it. Not happy with the result.”
“I feel like I got everything out of it”
The McLaren driver explained that he had made a mistake on his first lap and had “dipped a wheel” in the gravel. While he stated that this was “not ideal”, he acknowledged that it was not an unlikely or unexpected scenario.
“Yeah, I just made one mistake on my first push. I just dipped a wheel into the gravel. So yeah, my first mistake really of all of the qualifying and the whole weekend so far really. So [it] was bound to happen at some point, but not ideal.”
He also identified the on-track traffic and “dirty air” as factors that had compromised his first lap. This, he claimed, had resulted in him abandoning his initial attempt before going for “the final push.”
“Then a little bit of traffic, not traffic, but just a little bit of some dirty air and that just upset my first push. So I backed out of it and went again for the final push.”
Despite his less-than-ideal qualifying position, Norris stated that he was “happy” with his lap.
“But I’m honestly pretty happy. I think my lap was good. In terms of result, obviously not very happy, but I feel like I got everything out of it. So I’m happy with that.”
“Both my laps were good”
When asked to compare the lap which had earned him pole position for the sprint race with that which had earned him P3 for the feature race, Norris stated that he believed that both laps were good.
“Both my laps were good, I think.”
He claimed that the other teams, especially Red Bull, had improved their performance. He added that it was not a surprise to see such improvement from Verstappen, as the Dutchman had “not really had a bad race” throughout the season.
“I mean, my lap was probably just as good, if anything, a bit better than it was yesterday. It’s more these guys did a better job.”
“More than anything, you know, I think to see Red Bull slow yesterday was the surprise. Probably not to see them quick today is not the surprise. They’ve not really had a bad race the whole year, they’ve always been there or thereabouts, so to see them as far off as they were yesterday was a bit of a shock. To see them back where he is now is probably not the shock.”
McLaren were “losing a good amount in the straights”
Norris identified McLaren’s lack of pace on straighter parts of the track as a major contributor to them being unable to match the performance of Mercedes and Red Bull. He claimed that this was due to downforce, and stated that McLaren had not been able to recover the loss due to the flat track.
“We’re losing a good amount in the straights comparing to the others. It was close to a tenth to both George and Max before we even get to Turn 1.”
“So there’s some little losses, of course, that’s really downforce. And we hope to gain a little bit back in the high speed, but because it’s almost flat, we never got back almost what we were losing in the straights. So possibly not in the perfect window of downforce.”
“And on a day like today, you could probably get away with taking some off because you kind of just get to that limit where you don’t gain anything more in the high speed.”
Norris hoping that McLaren resolves issues on straights during the Qatar GP race
The McLaren driver, who is fighting to hold on to P2 in the 2024 World Drivers’ Championship, added that he hoped that McLaren would be able to overcome the issues experienced during qualifying.
“But hopefully tomorrow that falls back into our hands just a little bit.”
However, he reiterated that was proud of his qualifying performance, especially with the tricky circumstances hindering the MCL38’s performance.
“So both my laps were good, especially today. I don’t think I could have got a lot more out of it. I didn’t think I could even do a seven, to be honest. So I was happy to get that out of it too.”
MCL38 “already mint in FP1”
However, Norris denied there being anything more available from the MCL38. He stated that the improvements by Mercedes and Red Bull during qualifying had shown that performance required getting the car into “the sweet spot.” While Norris acknowledged that this was typically a strength of McLaren, and that they had been able to do this during the sprint qualifying and sprint race, he noted that they had been unable to match the improvements made by their rivals.
“I don’t think we were expecting a step. The car was already mint in FP1 and we couldn’t really get anything out of it.”
“So I think that’s what we’ve done a lot of times this year is we’re very good at just coming to the weekend and the car’s quick from the off. We put it straight away in sweet spot.”
“I think what Red Bull and Max showed is that not every team can do that. And I think that’s a strength from us. But they showed how much they struggled yesterday and how much just a few little tweaks to the car, how much that can make a difference to go from where he was yesterday to where he was today.”
“I think we just got a lot out of it yesterday”
While Norris reiterated that he was happy with his lap and his performance on Friday, he stated that the limited number of laps during qualifying had also affected McLaren’s inability to match Russell and Verstappen’s performances.
“So I think we just got a lot out of it yesterday. I did a good lap and I was happy.”
“Today, same again, but when I’m on pole yesterday by whatever the gap was to George, five hundredths or something, six hundredths. That’s not like we’re way quicker, he’s slower. That’s like within the noise of a couple laps that you get to do. And today, George was ahead and Max was ahead again.”
Norris expecting a tougher Qatar GP race
While Norris stated that McLaren’s target was to win the race, he noted that this would be difficult, given his rivals’ performance.
“Our target would be to try and win the race but these two guys have probably going to make my life pretty tough tomorrow.”
Norris admitted that McLaren’s one-lap pace indicated that they had been slower than their rivals. While he stated that he hoped McLaren would overcome this during the race, he added that he did not expect “anything special” from the race.
“So I don’t think we may be quite at the pace comparing to them, especially today. But hopefully tomorrow we can get something back.”
“I mean, I hope we’re way quicker than them tomorrow. So I don’t expect anything special.”
He identified that McLaren had not been the quickest during the weekend and stated that he was expecting a tough battle with his rivals, especially Mercedes, during Sunday’s race, especially as he did not think that the MCL38 would be able to match the pace of the W15 or RB20.
“I don’t think we’ve necessarily been the quickest to be honest this weekend, I think Mercedes have so expecting a tough battle and excited to see what we can do. I would like to give the guys ahead a little battle tomorrow and of course go forward.”
“So, excited. I mean, I think we still have a good chance. I don’t think we’re as quick as the Mercedes. And I mean, Red Bull showed how much they improved from yesterday, you know.”
“So, yes, plenty of opportunity for everyone.”
Fight for the Constructors’ Championship
Norris also identified the challenge expected from the “very quick cars” behind them. He noted that the competition between the drivers of the top 4 teams given their close qualifying times during the Qatar GP qualifying session.
“Yes. I mean, everyone saw how close it was between all of us for the whole of qualifying, so not a lot in it between all of us, which gives us hope that we can still go forward.”
“But there are some very quick cars behind us at the same time.”
While Norris noted that he had shown good race pace in the sprint, he acknowledged that he had benefitted from the “clear air” at the front of the pack. He added that he expected a tough race regardless of whether he had this clean air or not.
“I think we look forward to it. I think we showed good race pace today [but] I did have the benefit of being out front and being in clean air, which is a beautiful thing.”
“But I expect a tougher race tomorrow, yeah.”
