“Feels Like a Pole Position,” Lando Norris offers hope after strong performance in qualifying session
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Lando Norris
McLaren fans were awfully disappointed after the Woking-based team displayed several issues with the car and performed poorly at the first two races in the F1 2022 season. Some even thought that although McLaren were rising to occupy a good spot during the turbo-hybrid era, they were back at the bottom of the line due to the new regulations that FIA have introduced this year. But putting an end to all these speculations, McLaren managed to make a comeback during the Australian GP where both the drivers came within top 10 in the Free Practice sessions.
To add to team boss Zak Brown’s joys, the McLaren boys performed fairly well in the Qualifiers at Albert Park. Lando Norris came fourth, assuring himself a second row start at Sunday’s race, ahead of both the Mercedes’ and one of the Ferraris. And Daniel Ricciardo, who walked into the Australian GP with high expectations to fulfill because it is his home race, came seventh.
While both the racers were struggling to even get into Q2 from Q1 in Jeddah, the McLaren engineers have finally cracked it and now McLaren is back in the top 10. When asked about his feelings after coming fourth in such a tough Qualifier, Lando Norris said it was overwhelming, almost like he has won the pole position!
“A very good result for us”: Aus GP raises McLaren expectations after two top 10 Qualifying finishes
While McLaren was struggling at the bottom of the line in the last two races, they have come through to show their worth in Australia. Compared to where the team two weeks ago, Lando said it is–“a very good result for us, it feels like a pole position in some ways from where we’ve been the last few weekends.”
When Lando Norris was asked for his remarks on their improvement from the first two races of this season, he said, “I guess we are still a long way off on pace but position-wise to be a lot further up is nice to see. A good reward for myself, a good reward for the team [but] whether or not the car’s made much progress is hard to say.“
As Russell has come sixth in Q3, he will be starting the race in the row right next to Lando’s. The two young British talents had raced each other in F2 where Russell became the World Champion.
This time, Lando Norris is stoked to race his old competitor again as he said, “It’s been a while. Really, F2 I would say since we had our last good battles in Monza or something. I look forward to it. I think we can have some good racing and hopefully, we can race them [Mercedes] more often.“
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Riddhi Mondal
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