Norris reveals that "there was no more in McLaren" in qualifying

Having dominated proceedings in the Qatar F1 Sprint, McLaren driver Lando Norris failed to carry that form over into the main qualifying session, and ended up only third on the grid.

Pole-sitter Lando Norris had a great start to hold on to the first place, while his team-mate Oscar Piastri managed to pick off second-placed George Russell at Turn 1.

Although the McLaren's British driver led the entire sprint race, there was a significant change in the dying moments of the 19-lap sprint race. Norris slowed down coming out of the last corner to pull aside and hand the win to his team mate. It later emerged that it was a payback for Brazil, when Piastri led on merit and let Norris through when Norris needed the extra points in the drivers' championship.

In the main qualifying session, Norris struggled to beat Verstappen and Russell, and ended up only third on the grid which prompted him to claim that it was the maximum he could extract from his MCL38.

"Third isn’t the position we were hoping for after yesterday’s Sprint Quali, but it was the maximum we could do today. I’m happy with the lap but not happy with the result, we just weren’t quick enough compared to the competition.

“There’s not a lot in it between all of us, which gives me hope we can go forward tomorrow. But at the same time, there are some quick cars behind.

"My race pace looked good in the Sprint, but I expect a tougher race tomorrow. We’ll work hard overnight to put ourselves in the best position to challenge at the front," Norris concluded.

His team-mate Oscar Piastri inherited the victory in the Qatar F1 Sprint desptite struggling for race pace. He came back sligthly stronger in the main qualifying to secure fourth on the grid for today's 57-lap Qatar Grand Prix.

"After a really strong Sprint, we maximised what we could do this afternoon. I was happy with my lap, it felt good, we just didn’t have the pace.

"We’re still in a good spot, and being ahead of the Ferraris is helpful in our Championship run. Thank you to the team for their work today, it’s going to be a long race tomorrow, so let’s see what we can do.”