Lando Norris expressed his disappointment after failing to achieve pole position in the Qatar Grand Prix, conceding it to his teammate and rival, Oscar Piastri, due to an error in his final qualifying lap.
Norris will start from second position in Sunday’s race, after aborting his last lap by going off track at turn 2.
A win in Sunday’s race would secure Norris his first world title, regardless of his competitors’ positions. However, if he crosses the finish line behind Piastri, the fight for the championship will extend to the final race in Abu Dhabi.
I’m quite disappointed.
Lando Norris
Norris commented that his mistake was even more frustrating, considering that he had improved his performance after Friday night’s sprint qualifying.Lando Norris largará desde la segunda fila por sexta vez esta temporada.The driver told Sky Sports: “Yesterday [in the sprint qualifying] I didn’t feel like I had the pace for pole, but today I felt much more comfortable.”
I was convinced I would be on pole, but I’m not now, so I’m quite disappointed with myself about that, especially since my qualifying lately has been quite strong.
I guess I can’t always be great and always be on pole, but today was a missed opportunity on my part,” Norris continued. “But the focus is on tomorrow.”
After finishing the sprint race on Saturday in the same starting positions of the top three drivers, Norris indicated that he is not optimistic about his chances of overtaking Piastri on Sunday.
“I’m second, so there’s not much chance of winning at the moment,” he stated. “But yes, I’m just focusing on trying to make a good start.
There’s a long run to turn one, it’s a good opportunity for anyone to gain or lose positions.
Apart from that, I think it’s going to be a pretty boring and straightforward race.”
When asked how he would sleep knowing he has the opportunity to secure his first F1 title on Sunday, Norris joked: “I hope badly, because normally the worse I sleep, the better I do!”
