Norris bemoans missing a shot at the pole in Abu Dhabi following an expensive miscalculation, saying, “It’s another one I’ve thrown away.”
Following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying session on Saturday, Lando Norris could not contain his annoyance. The McLaren driver feels that a mistake during Q3 could have lost him pole position.
After setting the best time in the first sector, Norris was doing better on his last lap when he had a crazy incident at Turns 13 and 14, which caused the car to become unstable and let multiple competitors pass him, dropping him from P2 to P5.
After qualifying, Norris spoke to Sky Sports about his blunders from earlier in the season. “The car was very good out there; I was on a lap quick enough to go P1, but I didn’t do it, so it’s another Saturday that I’ve just thrown away,” he said. “I’m not happy.”
Expanding on the error, he said: “I don’t know what happened. A little bit of the car ahead… I’m not going to blame him for getting in my way, it’s just unfortunate I caught a car there.
It makes the slightest difference, but on the last qualifying lap, we’re close enough to the limit that even the smallest variation can completely upset the car. It’s unfortunate, as I feel disappointed in myself because things may have turned out quite differently.
When asked if a pole was in the works, he responded, “Again, shoulda, woulda, coulda stuff from me.” It’s unfortunate. I tossed it all away, being, what, three tenths up.
Oscar Piastri, Norris’ teammate, was among those to profit from the circumstances as he finished third, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who had pole position, and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Following the session, the Australian was looked at for a possible interference incident involving Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, who finished qualifying in tenth place. However, the stewards decided not to take any further action.
After a difficult run last time out in Las Vegas, Piastri said: “It’s been a much better weekend in terms of pace as a team, but I’ve been struggling to just get laps together. Even on my side the pace has been good, just I’ve been making big mistakes in every lap.
“To have cleaned it up mostly [going] into qualifying was nice. [There were] still a couple of small things to adjust and tweak, but I think everyone can say the same.”
He concluded by saying, “I think we can fight for a podium, definitely,” on his chances on race day. Hopefully, we can be strong because nobody knows how fast the race will go.
With Fernando Alonso starting seventh and Lance Stroll starting thirteenth, respectively, McLaren is presently leading rival Aston Martin by eleven points going into Sunday’s race. The Woking team is hoping to take fourth place in the constructors’ standings.
