Lando Norris claims he put ‘everything on the line’ to secure pole position for US GP
Lando Norris reflects on his impressive lap in qualifying at the US GP, which helped him beat Max Verstappen to the pole position.
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Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (via IMAGO)
Lando Norris was thrilled with his performance in Saturday’s qualifying for the US Grand Prix, where he managed to beat Max Verstappen to the pole position. The Dutchman seemed to have regained his form after struggling in recent races. However, Norris still outpaced him, clinching his fourth pole position of the season.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen explained that on the first lap of US GP qualifying, he lost a bit of time due to George Russell‘s unfortunate crash, which brought out the yellow flags. This gave Lando Norris the advantage, who ended the session with a fastest lap of one minute and 32.330 seconds, beating Verstappen by just 0.031 seconds.
The Briton emphasized that it was a beautiful lap from him acknowledging that he didn’t expect to improve much beyond his current time. With the season nearing its end, Norris had to ensure peak performance, giving everything he had on the line. McLaren faced challenges on Friday and were not performing at their best, so the lap was especially important.
It was a beautiful lap. I wasn’t going to go much quicker than I did. You know when you do a lap and think, it’s going to be tough to beat that. I put everything on the line, it’s what we needed to do. We’ve not had the pace of the Ferraris or the Red Bulls. So, I had to put in a special lap, and I did that. Overall, a cool lap and a nice place to start the race tomorrow.
Lando Norris told News18.com
Ferrari made significant strides during qualifying, with Carlos Sainz securing a strong P3 start for the race, just ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc in P4. Sainz recorded an impressive lap time of 1:32.652, closely followed by his teammate at 1:32.740. Verstappen also showed improved speed compared to his earlier performances in Singapore and Monza, putting pressure on Norris.
Lando Norris admits McLaren weren’t the quickest car at the US GP qualifying
Lando Norris expressed his enjoyment of the exhilarating speed he felt at the COTA. He acknowledged that the overall performances on Friday and Saturday were challenging, as Red Bull significantly improved their car’s speed, putting them close to McLaren’s level.
This made it a tough weekend for the Woking-based squad. Norris secured fourth in sprint qualifying but acknowledged the team’s adjustments weren’t sufficient, they still weren’t the fastest car on the grid. Nevertheless, he praised the team’s dedication and hard work in making those improvements.
A tough day, a tough weekend for us, but we changed quite a bit, I think we reviewed everything we could and we made the improvements we needed to make, so maybe we weren’t the quickest car out there today.
Lando Norris explained
Norris must convert his pole position into a win to close the gap with Verstappen in the driver standings. If Verstappen manages to overtake him and secure his eighth victory of the season, the pressure on Norris will increase significantly.
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Gaurang Kadam
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