McLaren "are not head and shoulders above the rest," insists Norris after his recovery drive in Jeddah

Having suffered a high-speed crash in the qualifying session at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris insists that the papaya team is not "head and shoulders above" its rivals.

Max Verstappen started from the pole position after having delivered an eye-catching performance in Saturday’s qualifying session. However, the Dutchman launched off the line well, but so did Oscar Piastri, and the pair went wheel-to-wheel into the first corner before Verstappen cut across the apex.

The reigning champion managed to hold on to the lead, but the stewards judged that he left the track and gained a lasting advantage by taking to the run-off area on the outside of the first corner. The Dutchman received a five-second penalty for his manoeuvre.

The Dutchman led until the pit stops, serving that penalty costing him a place to Piastri. From there, he couldn’t get close enough to put Piastri under any significant pressure.

The Aussie did not fail to capitalize on the situation, and took his second consecutive victory after his dominant performance in Sakhir to take over the championship lead, becoming the first Australian driver since Mark Webber to find himself on the top of the drivers’ standings.

As for Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris, he had to work harder as he started from tenth on the grid. The Briton elected to start the race on the hards, and he worked his way up through the field in a long first stint.

While McLaren had been expected to dominate the race, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen’s surprisingly strong race pace meant that Norris failed to secure a podium place in Jeddah despite his eye-catching speed in the closing stages of the race.

“A good day overall with a strong recovery," Norris started. "Well done to Oscar and the rest of the team for getting the win, we've come away from the weekend with more important points.

“On my side, we had a good strategy, and we optimised it to gain valuable positions. It's a shame I didn’t finish with a podium but otherwise I'm happy with the comeback and my drive today. I’ll now go away from the triple header to reset and work with my engineers to make positive steps forward.”

Pushed on to comment on the pecking order, Norris said that his team does not enjoy the advantage the rivals sometimes speak about which was demonstrated by the fact that he was unable to make inroads during the race.

“That was a tough one. This track is tough, this temperature is tough and it’s flat out. There’s no saving on the tyres here, it’s flat out from start to finish. I was struggling – not in terms of physically, but just in terms of having enough of an advantage over the rest to come back through as much as I would have wanted.

“It would have been nice to get Charles and have a little podium and I’d drink all the champagne right now because I would love that – or the apple juice would be even better. I dream of that at the minute.

“But I think it was the best that we could achieve today. Clearly, we’re not head and shoulders above the rest. As Oscar showed, it’s not an easy race. Max probably would have won if he hadn’t had the penalty.

"We’ve got those kinds of issues still. It’s not easy races, which just means that when I make mistakes like yesterday, like some other races because I’m just not getting as much as I need to, I make my life pretty tough like today. I’m still happy. I’m happy with my comeback. It’s the best that I could achieve and now I’m looking forward to a break.”