Lando Norris has promised to ‘give it his all’ to beat Max Verstappen in the sprint race on Saturday after the McLaren star pipped the reigning world champion to P1 in the sprint shootout.
Norris finished the third section of the sprint shootout less than a tenth of a second ahead of Verstappen, while Sergio Perez, who had gone fastest through the first sector, slotted into P3.
There was less to celebrate on the other side of the McLaren garage as Oscar Piastri could only manage a P10 finish in the shootout, finishing just under six-tenths of a second behind his team-mate.
After taking the chequered flag to confirm the sprint race pole, Norris sounded extremely confused over the team radio, claiming that his lap “felt so bad”.
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The 23-year-old elaborated on his comments in his post-race interview, explaining: “A great day. Honestly, it felt like one of the worst laps I’ve done, so I’m a little bit surprised, but it’s a good surprise. I feel like we’ve made up for yesterday. My first pole in a long time, so I’m happy.”
Norris was then asked about his chances of keeping Verstappen behind in the sprint race, replying: “No idea. But the pace has been good all weekend. The car’s been very strong. We’re on the right track.
“It’s a tough one, the Red Bulls are always quick, Max is always quick. So it’s not going to be an easy race, but the pace is strong, so if we’re going to have any chance, I’ll give it my all.”
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Norris will have been delighted to avenge his qualifying mishap from Friday. The McLaren star was extremely frustrated after throwing away a shot at pole position, eventually taking the chequered flag to qualify P7.
Explaining his mixed emotions on Friday, he explained: “I don’t know what feel about it. I think the car was amazing, it came alive a lot in qualifying. Easily good enough to be quickest, I’d say.
“Obviously delivering the lap and putting it together in Q3 and everything’s a different job. But [the car was] easily quick enough [for pole], so disappointed. Another disappointing [Friday], but not a lot we could’ve done.”
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