Lando Norris took pole position for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix by two-tenths of a second but the McLaren driver still called qualifying a “struggle” for the team.
With Oscar Piastri joining Norris on the front row for Sunday’s race, one could be forgiven for thinking McLaren had an easy go of it in qualifying.
After topping FP2 and FP3 respectively, Saturday’s session looked like it was McLaren’s for the taking but after Q2 saw the top-10 advancing drivers covered by just four-tenths of a second, the team had a battle on its hands.
So it came to pass in Q3, as Max Verstappen provisionally set pole after the first runs, meaning Norris and McLaren had to push.
Despite clinching pole by his two-tenths margin, Norris’ first remarks to the press in the post-qualifying press conference were that “Quali was a bit of a struggle, honestly.
“We just expected probably to be a little bit better than what we were.
“The whole of the weekend so far has been quite straightforward from our side. It just seems like everyone caught up a lot come qualifying, and we had to start pushing a lot more.”
A 1:22.595s time was good enough for Norris to clinch pole, which he called “a good lap,” before adding “It was not the cleanest, but sometimes when you’re close enough to the edge and it’s just a little bit untidy, sometimes it’s actually quite a nice place to be.
“I had a couple of snaps, and a big snap in Turn 9, so I made a mistake. That hurt me a touch, but otherwise, it was a nice lap.
“I put the rest of it together pretty well. Just not an easy circuit to do.
“We had a bit to gain in Quali because Max was looking a little bit quicker than us through most of it, so I knew I had to pull something out.”
Zak Brown ‘nervous’ ahead of McLaren title ascension, says Lando Norris
Mclaren has a 21-point advantage over Ferarri at the top of Constructors’ standings going into the season-ending race.
With Carlos Sainz qualifying third and a track limits breach combined with a 10-place grid penalty dropping Charles Leclerc to 19th on the grid, McLaren looks well poised to clinch its first Constructors’ title since 1998.
Still, Norris quipped that McLaren CEO Zak Brown will be “nervous” when asked how a front row lockout boosts the team’s hopes.
“I feel like Zak’s probably more nervous that we’re first and second than if we were not,” Norris said.
“It gives us good knowledge that the car’s great, of course.
“I think we’ve both been driving well this weekend and we knew the pressure was on from ourselves. We’ve both performed well. We’ve both got everything out of the car.
“It’s a long race and many things can happen. We’re definitely not going to get ahead of ourselves. We know we have a little bit of a gap.
“In terms of positions, we’re in a much more fortunate position than what Ferrari is.
“[Sainz] is going to be putting up a good fight for his final race with Ferrari. He’s going to want to prove his point and I’m excited to battle if that’s the case.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris leads McLaren front row lockout for F1 Abu Dhabi GP
