Norris 'in shock' after best F1 qualifying performance

McLaren

Norris 'in shock' after best F1 qualifying performance

Briton will start from fourth in the Austrian Grand Prix in his McLaren

Sam Hall

Saturday 4 July 2020 19:50 Updated: 20:55

Lando Norris conceded to being in shock after securing a career-best fourth on the grid in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix - even though he claims it was not his best effort.

Norris, whose previous best was fifth in the 2019 French Grand Prix, only has Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamiton, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen ahead of him.

Assessing his stunning performance, Norris said: “The whole thing was a bit of a shock, which makes it better in some ways.

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"We weren’t aiming for a top-five or a top-six really, so I think that’s something that makes it even better.

“I’m just very happy for the whole team. To start the season off like this, for it to be also my best qualifying position, I think it makes us all very happy, not just myself.”

As for the crucial lap itself, clocking one minute 03.626secs, seven-tenths adrift of polesitter Bottas, Norris added: “It was good. There were no big mistakes. [But] I wouldn’t say it was my best.

“I think the second half of the lap was extremely good, the first half not so much, because I made the mistake in Q3, run one, on the used tyre, and we had to abort the lap.

“I lost, not all my confidence, but I didn’t have that one lap under my belt to really go into Q3 run two with all the confidence I had throughout qualifying.

“It put me back a little bit and I was a little bit under the limit at turn one, but apart from that, the rest of the lap was really good.

“It was one of my best, I wouldn’t say it was my best, but the rest of it I was very happy with.”

Before you go...

Hamilton avoids grid penalty in Austria after being cleared by the stewards

Verstappen hopes for ace up sleeve against "different level" Mercedes