Lando Norris has had an incredible year in 2023, progressing from a backmarker team to regularly scoring podiums in the second half of the year. The Briton has come close to winning a race multiple times, finishing second six times out of his seven podiums this year.

Norris has been a great qualifier all year, but the Abu Dhabi GP told a different story. The McLaren driver was faster than Max Verstappen in the first two sectors and looked set to get a pole or a front-row spot on the grid at least. However, Norris lost the rear of his car and missed out on pole, qualifying fifth. Norris was extremely disappointed in his own performance, saying he has been messing up his Saturday sessions quite a bit.

I just make so many mistakes on a Saturday at the minute. Every other lap was some of my best really.I don't know why it happened. I've not done it all weekend. So yeah, frustrating because I'm just doing a sh*t job on Saturday.

Lando Norris said, as reported by autosport.com

Norris is currently locked in the battle for P4 in the World Championship with Spaniards Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, and Charles Leclerc a little far back. Norris is trailing Alonso and Sainz by five points, but a Q1 elimination for Sainz and lack of race pace in the Aston Martin could see the P4 position go to Norris.

Lando Norris recalls the crowd’s roar at Silverstone GP

Lando Norris has had an amazingly strong season in 2023, and a glimpse of victory was shown to him at the British GP earlier this year. The McLaren driver took the lead into turn 1 and held it for a few laps before Max Verstappen came knocking to take it right back.

In the brief stint that Norris gained the lead, the crowd cheered him on with thunderous roars, supporting their countryman Lando Norris. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Norris said he could not hear the crowd from inside the car, but wishes he could have, appreciating the crowd’s support.

I kind of was thinking like, damn this would be cool to watch. I wish I could watch myself right now. It was amazing.

Lando Norris then proceeded to take second place behind Max Verstappen, scoring the first of his miraculous seven podiums in the 2023 season. The result also marked his first podium since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix over a year prior.

In case you missed it:

• Sergio Perez raises concerns about ‘intense’ F1 schedule burning out the mechanics   
• Toto Wolff admits he is tired of Mercedes W14’s poor pace after Lewis Hamilton’s Qualifying result at Abu Dhabi GP

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