Despite a disrupted third qualifying session (Q3), McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris will start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix race from pole, having out-qualified title rival Max Verstappen of Red Bull by over two-tenths of a second.
Despite his strong qualifying performance, Norris described the lap that had earned him his sixth career pole as “not particularly good” and acknowledged the difficulty of having had only a single lap to maximise his qualifying performance.
“Not particularly good. Just because it’s difficult. It’s hard to do everything around here in one lap.
“So I was a bit down in the first sector, probably a couple of tenths. And then I felt like I had to try and push a bit harder in the middle sector to make up for it and that kind of thing.”
However, he added that the qualifying session had gone well and that the team had enjoyed strong performances throughout the weekend despite struggling to progress from practice to qualifying.
“But I mean, it still felt good. We’ve been good all weekend. Just struggled to progress much from practice into quali.”
He claimed that while this lack of progress had not significantly hindered the team’s performance, it had somewhat increased the difficulty of the three qualifying sessions, though not so much that he had been left uncomfortable or lacking confidence in the MCL38’s abilities.
“Like we just found a good setup there and stuck and didn’t really progress at all really.
“I went only a touch quicker than what I did in FP3. So expected a bit more and probably found a little bit more difficult than I would have liked in both Q1, Q2 and Q3.
“But the car’s been amazing all weekend. So felt good and felt comfortable just to go out and put the lap in.”
When asked if the lack of progress could be due to the track conditions experienced during qualifying, Norris replied, “No, I mean, I think it’s tough to say.”
He expressed that he believed that the team had done a good job to maximise the performance of the MCL38, so much so that further adjustments had not become either unnecessary or insignificant to its performance.
“I think we’ve just done a very good job at arriving at the track and the car works well.
“I mean, we haven’t touched the car all weekend. Mainly, because no matter what we do, it doesn’t really make much difference.
“We’ve kind of just had the car and not had to do a lot to it, but that’s also a good thing in many ways.”
Despite this and the car’s strong pace throughout the practice and qualifying sessions, Norris admitted that the car had been “tricky” to drive, but stated that a combination of other factors had also affected his performance behind the wheel.
“But it was still a handful to drive in the end, like the Q3 lap at the end was tough with locking, with the bumps. I made quite a few mistakes. So the car was still tricky to drive, but very quick. And that just allows me to drive at 99% and still deliver. So just a combination of several things.”
In light of these comments, the McLaren driver was asked about his confidence in the car’s ability to perform competitively during Sunday’s race. While Norris acknowledged the increased threat from competitors, such as, for example, Red Bull’s Verstappen, he reiterated his satisfaction with the MCL38’s performance and stated that he was confident that he would be able to put up a good fight for victory if he was able to get ahead in the early stages of the race.
“I mean, quite a bit. We’ve been very good all weekend.
“People have caught up clearly, like we’ve gone into quali there and clearly Max improved and he improved a lot from yesterday into today. Mercedes as well, they were very quick in Q2, so they were there on my tail, a bit close for my liking, comparing to what I had in kind of FP3 and things.
“Confident that the car’s good in both quali and race. We showed that already on Friday. So confident if I can just get ahead, then I get my head down and can go away.”
When asked if he believed that the addition of the fourth DRS zone would complicate his race and his ability to hold on to his lead, Norris replied, “No.”
During the press conference, the two-time race winner was also asked for his thoughts on starting ahead of three-time world champion Verstappen and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, especially with his increasingly close title fight with Verstappen. While Norris expressed his respect for both drivers, stating that he had “looked up to them for a long time,” he said he would not change his approach to driving as a result of this.
“I mean, it’s pretty cool that I’m here and there’s World Championships, I mean, there’s 150 wins or something between them. So, yeah, I’ve got nothing on them and nothing comparing to them.
“So I find it cool, you know, that I’m here and I’m amongst them and yeah, trying to fight against them. I think that’s pretty awesome in my regard.
“So respect them a lot. I’ve looked up to both of them for a long time, both literally and mentally, you know, so it doesn’t change what I do and how I go out and drive.
“Mainly because when you’re on track… I mean, I probably know what to expect a bit more from them because I’ve seen them drive and I think they both drive with respect and they both want to drive as clean racing drivers.”
He praised the skills of both Verstappen and Hamilton, noting that their experience and competitiveness had allowed them to become “smarter” than other drivers. This, he identified, had allowed for “good battles” between himself and the other drivers.
“So I think that’s something I always look forward to. You know, we had a great battle, however it ended in Austria, I think we’ve had a great battle there and good battles at other tracks too. So it doesn’t change anything.
“I just know that they’ll try and play more tricks or you know they’re just. They’re smarter than probably the other drivers and know how to play the longer game or the shorter game more than probably other drivers too.”
He added: “I probably just respect it more and enjoy being here with two greats of the sport.”
Norris was also asked how his most recent pole stacked up in his list of poles. He stated that it was difficult for him to compare them as he had only qualified at the front of the grid a few times. He stated that earning pole position still felt “pretty awesome” for him and stated that what was left to do was “a nice lap.”
“I mean, it’s up there still but not that many poles so they’re all up there at the minute. When I get as many as they do both have then maybe some will feel a bit crap comparing to others. But poles still are pretty awesome for me and it’s left to do a nice lap, you know.”
He stated that while the car was quick, it was still easy for costly mistakes to be made, such as those made at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He said that he felt “exactly the same” when “on it” in Singapore as he had in Azerbaijan but acknowledged that the situation in Azerbaijan had been what it was due to “other circumstances.”
“I think it showed with where we were as a team that the car was quick, but still not easy to drive on a day like today. Still easy to make mistakes and could easily have not been on pole today.
“So at the same time, I still feel like I have to go out and perform well.
“I feel like I did exactly the same when I was on it just as much last weekend. Just things didn’t turn out that way because of other circumstances.”
He added that his qualifying performance in Azerbaijan had not bothered him too much, especially as he had been able to fight his way through the field, eventually finishing P4 after a P15 start.
“But I’ve not had it bother me too much.
“Like I said, Saturday night and coming into Sunday last week, I just concentrated on the next one and did what I had to do. So I feel like I’m performing well. I was performing very well in Baku. I was quick all weekend. So I felt like I could easily have fought there and fought for a podium and for the win. But it wasn’t to be.”
He said he aimed to maximise his performance in Singapore, as he had in Azerbaijan.
“But I maximised that day and I’ll go out there tomorrow and try and do a similar thing.”
