Lando Norris will start Sunday’s race from third position, behind Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver, whose fastest lap time was only 0.211 seconds more than that of pole-sitter George Russell, was asked about his mistake at Chapel in his final qualifying lap.
“I just ran wide out of turn 14 and that was it,” Norris stated, before adding that he did not think that this had cost him pole position, noting that his time had already been significantly off that of the two Mercedes drivers due to a bad first sector.
“No, I was already a tenth and a half down, so it’s tough.”
Norris praised the Mercedes team for their performance, admitting that the Brackley-based team had been “very quick” throughout the weekend, as he noted post-FP2.
He added that while his performance had been “super close” to that of the Mercedes, ultimately, McLaren had not been able to deliver their desired performance during qualifying.
“I think that George [Russell] and Lewis [Hamilton] have done a great job. For two cars to be up there shows that the team are also doing an amazing job.
“It was super close. I think [that] if I put in a good enough lap, it was close, and I put in a bit of a fight. But they’ve just been very quick all weekend, since FP1, like George said.
“So, there thereabouts, but McLaren just didn’t deliver today.”
When asked if he was surprised by the pace of Mercedes, Norris simply replied, “No.”
The McLaren driver also stated that he expected Mercedes to pose a significant challenge to him during the race as they had shown the ability to be quick around the Silverstone circuit while efficiently managing their front tyres. Lewis Hamilton was very strong last year on his way to P3.
He did, however, acknowledge that “tricky” weather conditions around the Silverstone circuit could affect the race, agreeing with a similar sentiment by Mercedes’ Russell.
“Yeah, I think even if you look at last year, Mercedes were probably one of the quickest in the race if not potentially one of the quickest, so I expect them to be very quick tomorrow, especially because they can look after their front tyres very well. They have a very good front end and I think that’s going to be a good day for them tomorrow.
“But again, like George said, the conditions are going to be tricky.”
He did, however, express optimism about the team’s race performance, noting that one of the Woking-based team’s strengths had been their pace in races. Though he acknowledged that several of the Silverstone Circuit’s features differed quite significantly from those of other circuits that McLaren had performed well at in the previous races of the 2024 season, he stated that he was hopeful that the team would be able to put in a strong performance.
“But we’ve been very quick in the races over the last two months. It’s probably been one of our strengths between actually race pace over quali pace, but this is a very different type of circuit, it’s a very different layout. But it’s still a strength. And hopefully it comes back towards us a little bit tomorrow.”
Norris was also asked about his strategy for the race, and whether he expected Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who will be starting the race in P4, to be a significant threat to him. While the British driver acknowledged that Verstappen would be challenging him during the race, he added that he could not focus solely on the Red Bull, as he had to consider the two Mercedes ahead of him.
“I mean, I’m sure [that] Max is going to be racing us tomorrow, but I’ve still got two other guys I’ve got to worry about. So, I don’t care just about Red Bull.”
Norris also expressed confidence in his strategy for the race, praising his team for their good performance over the recent months following the Miami update. However, he noted that he would need a good race pace to be able to challenge the drivers ahead of him.
“And I think our strategy has been very good over the last two months, so I’m happy, the team are doing a good job and they’re both confident we can execute a good race, but we need good pace, we need to be able to race well, we need to pass two guys if that’s going to be on the cards.
“So yeah, confident from what we know and what we’ve seen over the last few races that we can go forward.”
Norris also spoke about how his upbringing in the United Kingdom had been beneficial to his performance at the Silverstone Circuit. The McLaren driver highlighted that he, and other British-born drivers like Russell and Hamilton, had developed their skills in wet conditions, and subsequently, were able to compete well in them, as displayed over the weekend.
He also noted the competitive nature of racing in the United Kingdom as having assisted his development, and subsequently, his performance around the circuit.
“I mean, I think we grew up in these conditions. I think Q3 was just completely dry, but I think with all of this weekend, between the three of us, we’ve probably been on average the quickest, so we always enjoy these conditions. Similar to Canada, the three of us were up there being you know, amongst the quickest again, so yeah, different growing up and I think just a very competitive.
“I think England is the most competitive kind of area to grow up in, then kind of more Europe-based, but yeah, weather and just competitiveness of growing up and having the most competitive, the upbringing and competitiveness was amazing.”
When asked about what he would be encouraging his team to do, with the high possibility of mixed weather conditions during the race, Norris said the team would have to be prepared based on what they had learned from the previous races, especially in Canada.
While he stated that the team had done a significant review of their previous races, he admitted that the execution of a plan would be dependent on decisions which would have to be made during the race.
“I mean, we review everything, not just Canada, every race, whatever, or whatever. You review, but again, like George said, every case is different, you have to be prepared for every eventuality, and it’s not like you can plan these things, you know, it’s a lot about just decision-making, and being prepared at the time to just execute whatever plan that you need to have ready, and kind of have in front of you. So, we did a lot of reviewing on Canada, so I’m sure it’s going to be better.”
