Although Lando Norris will not start from pole position, he still has the best credentials to take the world title after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. His main competitor, Max Verstappen, starts from pole position. However, if Norris manages to finish on the podium, not even a winning Verstappen can stop him from achieving his biggest dream.
However, Norris was not completely satisfied after qualifying, he explained to RacingNews365, among others. “Q1 and Q2 weren’t my smoothest sessions. I was happy with my laps in Q3, so it all felt fine. I felt like I got a lot out of the car, but it just wasn’t enough. I’m a bit disappointed, because for the last race of the year you just want to be on pole.”
“But we just didn’t have the pace during qualifying. I have the feeling that I got the most out of the car, and I have to be happy with that. Of course I am behind the person I would have liked to be in front of, that is really the only reason for my disappointment. But other than that I was quite happy with my laps, that’s all there was to it.”
Qualifying did not go entirely according to plan at McLaren, because at the end of Q2 both drivers appeared on the track with new sets of soft tires. Verstappen, on the other hand, stayed inside and thus saved a set of tires. Yet Norris does not think that choice had much consequences for the rest of his qualifying. “No, not at all.”
He must therefore do everything he can for the race. “We have learned a little bit. We were not in the best position on Friday, but since then we have been able to make progress in several areas.”
“Based on race pace, we are normally very strong, but as Oscar (Piastri) also said: Verstappen was really very strong! We were just not fast enough, but we hope that we can change that during the race. Then I will decide what to do next.”
