Despite a recent run of podiums, McLaren’s Lando Norris admitted that a double Q1 exit for the team in Las Vegas Grand Prix qualifying was “not a surprise.”
Norris could only muster the 16th fastest time, while his rookie teammate Oscar Piastri was resigned to 19th once the first session of qualifying was completed.
However, both drivers knew from Friday, that like many low-downforce circuits, Vegas would be a struggle and Norris wasn’t shocked by the result in qualifying, especially given how close the competition has been getting to grips with the new venue.
“I would say it’s not a surprise, just because it’s very close and when things aren’t quite going, just when you’re not quite comfortable and you’re maybe one or two-tenths off where you want to be, then it makes a big difference,” Norris said.
“Two-tenths was between me and I think like five positions, so, of course, quite easily just if a couple of things came together it could be like, ‘oh yeah, not a bad day’.”
“I think we said it before this weekend and I’d say it’s painful we didn’t even get through to Q2. I don’t think we necessarily got anything wrong.”
Piastri also conceded that the reality of the situation wasn’t something that the team saw as unexpected coming into the weekend.
However, the Australian believes there is some pace to be found in the MCL60 come race day.
“I don’t think it’s that confusing,” Piastri said of the Q1 elimination. “I think the pace of the car is actually quite good, just that we got caught out a bit by not using a second set of tyres or something like that.”
Norris questioned whether the team should have made a stop for a fresh set of tyres, but admitted that is “a tough decision to make in the middle of qualifying.”
Whilst Piastri felt like “the car was pretty decent” in third practice, Norris disagreed.
“The pace of the car was where we are to be honest, it’s where we’ve been all weekend,” the Briton contended.
“We’ve been a long way off the pace. I’d say where we expected to be honestly, just a tough weekend.
“The car has not been performing the way we’ve been the last few weeks. I guess that’s disappointing but at the same time since our first few laps we already knew we were not going to be very quick.”
Norris was reflective on McLaren’s struggles, explaining that “a day like today, as much as it hurts inside, is sometimes a good thing too,” adding he is still looking “forward to tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Piastri concluded: “We’ll try our best. I think the pace in the car is reasonable, just didn’t go to plan today.”
