Lando Norris - 'I effed up' career-best qualifying chance

Lando Norris

Norris - 'I effed up' career-best qualifying chance

McLaren driver lost out on third place due to track limits

Will Gray

Saturday 17 April 2021 16:15 Updated: 16:26

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Lando Norris was left disappointed in himself for a mistake that saw his career-best grid position eliminated for exceeding track limits in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

McLaren driver Norris set a time of one minute 14:454secs on his final run, which would have put him third fastest behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.

The time was immediately deleted due to Norris running wide at turn nine Piratella, and he instead will start from seventh on the grid at Imola.

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“I’m pretty disappointed," said Norris on Sky Sports F1. "Pretty annoyed with myself. I think it was a very good day until then.

“The team did an awesome job. The car really came alive in quail, we made a lot of improvements on Friday, but that one lap I don’t need to make a mistake on I effed it all up.”

Norris had no excuses for his mistake, which left him reliant on a slower time set earlier in the session, leaving hime one place behind his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

Norris did, however, explain that pushing on the limit is harder than it looks. He added: “At the end of the day it’s my mistake and I’ve messed it up but from the outside it looks a lot easier just to stay within the lines than what it is inside.

“When you’re in quail and you’re in Q3 and you have an opportunity to be P2 or P3, to score your best result in qualifying, you’re pushing. And when you’re going at such a high speed in a corner, misjudging it by this amount is…yeah…”

Grid position is crucial around Imola, which is one of F1’s most legendary circuits but has a more traditional narrower track on which overtaking opportunities come at a premium.

Seventh place is two further forward than his ninth-placed grid position at the track last year, from where he finished eighth, and he is optimistic the team has unlocked some improved performance for tomorrow’s race.

“I’m really happy, not with my job I’ve done, but with the team,” he added. “We didn’t start the weekend well at all.

"We really struggled but we made a lot of improvements and understood a bit more how the car works and how it comes alive and a better operating window.

“That’s one of the things we had to learn from Bahrain, where we struggled, and we changed it this weekend and we’ve done a better job. Just, I didn’t.“