Lando Norris is disappointed and lost for words after a mistake at the final corner saw him run wide in the 2023 Qatar GP Sprint Shootout, sealing McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri‘s first Formula 1 “pole” position.
Max Verstappen had a rare off-day, opening the door to the rapid papaya cars to snatch a front-row lockout, but Norris, like Friday qualifying, could not deliver on his final lap when it mattered.
The result means that on a weekend when he could have had two mega qualifying performances, the British driver will start from 2nd for the Sprint Race, and 10th for the main race after failing to stay within track limits.
“I’m happy for the team, I’m happy for Oscar,” Norris said to F1TV after the session. “But I did another bad job today so I don’t know what I’m going to say.”
“I’m just not happy. I’m not doing a very good job, I should have been on pole yesterday, should have been on pole today, but I’m not.”
Struggling with track limits
At the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, Norris has struggled with track limits around a circuit that many anticipated McLaren to be strong competitors at – and is at a loss as to explain why.
“I don’t know just different things,” Norris added. “Different reasons for yesterday and different reasons for today, but just mistakes not putting the lap together when I need to.
“Easily quick enough for pole but I just don’t put it together at all and Oscar did a good job, Max has done a good job again. It’s frustrating, the car is quick enough and the team is doing an excellent job, but I’m just not delivering on what I need to do.”
