Lando Norris, after a qualifying session full of errors, was self-critical after obtaining fourth place on the grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Norris, with a time 0.292 seconds slower than his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, who achieved pole position, was surpassed by Max Verstappen of Red Bull and George Russell of Mercedes.
I made a lot of mistakes. Never good enough on my last qualifying lap, you know? Everyone goes faster, and I always go slower. It’s just not good enough.
Lando Norris
After four consecutive races where Piastri has performed better, Norris is 16 points behind his teammate in the championship standings. If he doesn’t get a good result in Sunday’s race, the gap could increase for the next round in Monaco.
After experiencing performance issues in the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying and a qualifying accident in Saudi Arabia earlier in the season, Norris has been unable to explain his lack of performance in Q3.
I don’t know. I’m not going to blame the car, that’s not me.
Lando Norris
Norris went on to explain that, although he felt good throughout the weekend and in the early qualifying rounds, he couldn’t find the pace in his final lap.
Throughout my career, qualifying has been my biggest strength, by far. This year it’s just not going well for me.
Lando Norris
The McLaren driver added that, although they understand some of the reasons, he is not happy with the situation and is working hard together with the team to improve.
When asked about his chances in Sunday’s race, Norris commented that overtaking will be complicated and that strategy could be key.
I think overtaking naturally is going to be quite impossible here, you know?
Lando Norris
Norris hopes that the tire strategy can open up opportunities to overtake his rivals, although he acknowledged that there are many unknowns due to the lack of testing with the hard compound.
