Lando Norris scored the fourth pole position of his career and the third of the 2024 season at the Dutch GP, in dominant fashion over home favourite Max Verstappen, who was left three tenths down in second place, and half-a-second clear of his team-mate Oscar Piastri – but the Briton is not expecting to have “anything easy” on Sunday’s grand prix.
Norris looked confident all weekend in what is a heavily-upgraded McLaren for the first time since the Miami GP – which was his maiden victory in F1 – and built on that confidence throughout qualifying, despite the very windy conditions which proved difficult for several cars and drivers, including his distant championship rival Max Verstappen.
Speaking after the session, the now four-time pole-sitter expressed satisfaction with how well he and the MCL38 were able to deal with the tricky weather conditions around the Zandvoort circuit, as well as the extensive upgrade package working as expected and contributing to the massive margin of over three-and-a-half tenths to his nearest rival:
“[It was] an amazing day. It’s nice to be back and start with a pole,” said Norris. “It was a nice lap, honestly. The qualifying [session] was pretty smooth, putting in some good laps, especially at the end which is always the most important.
“Both [the car and myself], I think both were good. I mean, especially my last lap in quali Q3, run 2, was by far my best lap. But I felt good all the way through qualifying, honestly. The car’s been strong all weekend. We felt comfortable.
“We felt strong. And especially come today in qualifying, since the first lap we did, I felt like I was in a good rhythm. It’s just not easy around here, because it’s not an easy track, first of all.
“But it’s also even more difficult with the wind and the conditions and stuff. So, just doing laps which are not mistake-free and not kind of locking up, not doing anything which would make me lose a little bit of confidence. And I just kept chipping away and improving every lap.
“So, both were good. The car and I think myself, too.”
When asked if he was surprised at the extent of the gap to Verstappen, the winner of the Miami GP pointed out that a myriad of factors could have possibly contributed to that, including favourable wind directions and a cleaner lap in general:
“Maybe a little bit [surprised]. But it all depends on wind and conditions. I feel like I did a very good lap.
“By far my best. But I think it’s a track where you just hook everything up and it just flows a little bit better. You catch a little bit of a headwind or a little bit less tailwind in certain places.
“You can easily go one, two tenths quicker. But I don’t know if that’s why or not. But the car was good and I felt good, too.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s grand prix, Norris is well aware of the challenge he will face from the reigning world champion, who will be ready to battle for glory in front of his home crowd – and expects others like George Russell and his team-mate Oscar Piastri to also get involved in what could be a four-way fight for the win around Zandvoort, which he believes will be anything but easy:
“I’m excited for tomorrow. I’m sure it’s gonna be tough, Max [Verstappen] has been quick all weekend – I know we’ve got him today, but he’s still second and he’s gonna be putting up a good fight, especially at his home race, so I’m looking forward to it.
“I mean, there’s always some unknowns. I think we’re in a pretty reasonable place. Our long-run pace was pretty strong the other day, but Max, Oscar [Piastri], both the [Mercedes] – especially George [Russell] in the position he is – are quick and are going to be challenging.
“So, I’m not expecting anything easy, for sure. Tomorrow is going to look the most calm from a weather and a wind point of view, which is always a nicer thing to look forward to. But I think we’re in a good way, so hopefully we can continue what we had today into tomorrow.”
