Frustrated Norris: “I Want to Sleep” After McLaren Error in Qatar, Verstappen Lurks

Norris Seeks to Wake Up in Abu Dhabi After Failed Strategy in Qatar

Lando Norris expressed his desire to “go to bed” after a failed strategy by McLaren in the Qatar Grand Prix cost him the victory and the opportunity to extend his lead in the championship against Max Verstappen of Red Bull. The fight for the title will be decided in the last race in Abu Dhabi, after Verstappen won in Qatar, getting closer to Norris in the drivers’ standings. Although Norris didn’t seem to be in contention for the victory in Qatar, his teammate, Oscar Piastri, lost a clear opportunity to win after McLaren decided not to pit their cars under a safety car on lap 7, while the rest of the grid did. This decision led Piastri to finish second and Norris fourth, meaning Piastri is now third in the standings, four points behind Verstappen and 16 points behind his McLaren teammate.

Faced with the question of how Abu Dhabi will approach things now that Verstappen is their biggest threat, Norris replied: “Same as every weekend. I try to beat them, they try to beat me. Nothing different… I just want to go to bed.” A podium in Abu Dhabi would still guarantee the title for Norris, who stated that he will focus on maintaining his good form, which led him to recent victories in Mexico and Brazil.

Obviously, it’s not our best day, it’s not our best weekend. But I don’t know if anyone saw the run of results I had before that, they were great. So I put myself in this position [at the top of the championship]. I’m still happy. It wasn’t our best day, it wasn’t my best weekend in terms of driving and putting things together. But that’s life. Everyone has bad weekends. I take it easy, we’ll take it easy and see what we can do next weekend.

Lando Norris