Norris is sure he can take the fight to Mercedes
Despite qualifying only third for today's British Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris believes that he will be able to take the fight to the McLaren duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Lando Norris looked quick all through the qualifying session, topping Q2 with a comfortable margin. He appeared to be in contention for pole, but he made a mistake on his final lap which prompted him to return to the pits rather than completing his lap, leaving him in third place.
“I’m happy with P3. Three Brits locking-out the top three positions at the British Grand Prix is pretty cool. Both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton did great laps and an excellent job.
"I made a little mistake on my part at the end, but we’re still in a good starting spot. It’s going to rain again tomorrow, and I’m excited to put on a good show. It’s going to be a good race for the fans. I know we’re quick, so I can bring the fight to both the Mercedes.”
His team-mate Oscar Piastri displayed good pace during the qualifying hour but felt that his final lap was compromised by traffic, and the Australian will line up in P5.
“A bit of a disappointing result in the end. We had the pace and ability to be further up, but I got stuck in traffic on my last lap. The car is quick, and we have solid race pace, so anything is possible tomorrow, especially with the weather.
"We’ll review it this evening and make sure we give it everything tomorrow," the Australian concluded.
Although he felt that his outfit did not extract the full potential of the MCL36 in Q3, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella was not too disheartened.
“It was a well-executed Qualifying in mixed conditions at Silverstone today, until the final run in Q3 where we did not fully capitalise. We were able to progress through the sessions relatively comfortably.
"The first run was promising, but then, in the second run for both Lando and Oscar, we didn't have the possibility to improve, and this meant we missed out on a better result.
“On Lando’s side, his last lap was a little untidy, while Oscar needed to fight for position on the out lap, ending up too close to Carlos Sainz when opening his final lap. Going into tomorrow, we are still in a very strong position for the race. We will maximise our preparation and try to look ahead in the race.”
