Lando Norris nerves almost ruined Australia qualifying

Lando Norris

Norris nerves almost ruined Australia qualifying

What a performance from the rookie!

Matthew Scott

Saturday 16 March 2019 12:05

Lando Norris said the nerves surrounding his Formula 1 debut almost spoiled his efforts after he secured a magnificent eighth-place start on his debut for McLaren. Norris is the first rookie to reach Q3 on their F1 debut since Carlos Sainz did so for Toro Rosso in 2015.

Only Williams' Robert Kubica and George Russell were slower than Norris through practice, but he turned it on impressively for qualifying, finishing in the top 10 across all three segments.

McLaren teammate Sainz qualified 18th after he was hampered by a slow-moving Kubica battling a puncture.

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With debut points now in sight, Norris revealed that he was only able to enjoy his efforts one qualifying came to an end.

"I enjoyed it to a point. I was so nervous that it almost ruined the enjoyment," Norris said.

"But the enjoyment comes once I completed a lap I was happy with and obviously I'm happy for the whole team.

"That's what makes me happy, is knowing how hard the team has worked and that it has all come together for qualifying. I did enjoy it a lot and happy to get it off my chest."

Norris said that his aim at the start of Saturday was merely to get out of the first part of qualifying, but after reaching the top 10, he is now determined to prove it can be repeated.

"I had done three runs and used three sets of softs in Q1," he said.

"Our aim was just to try and get into Q2 and that went pretty well. Then I did my Q2 lap and got into Q3. For now I'm very happy but I've got a long job ahead of me tomorrow.

"I think it just shows that it is possible to do it and it shows that we have in some ways moved forward from last year. Not as much as we need to but I feel like I really maximised everything.

"I have a long race ahead of me tomorrow and we have a lot of work ahead to maintain these Q3s. Today is not a one off but they are not going to happen all the time so I will enjoy it."