McLaren’s Lando Norris secured 4th position after a lacklustre qualifying at the Imola Grand Prix
While securing the top spot in FP3 after chasing down team-mate Oscar Piastri, it was Piastri who secured pole position for the Imola GP.
Norris believes a win is off the table for him as he said in a post-qualifying interview: “A podium of course, I hope so. A win? Unlikely.”
Lando Norris won the first GP of the F1 Calendar in Australia, but has struggled to recreate the same winning momentum, meanwhile, his papaya teammate leads the Drivers Championship. Norris has attributed this to small mistakes on track, particularly during qualifying.
When the Briton was asked if he repeated this during qualifying at Imola, Norris was honest: “I made a lot of mistakes. Never good enough in my final lap in qualy [qualifying]. Everyone goes quicker, and I always go slower. Yeah, just not good enough.”
He continued: “The car is mega. It’s on pole and it’s the best car on track. Just I wasn’t.”
Norris later said to written media: “The lap time just doesn’t come. Same answers every weekend. It’s a regular thing. I feel better until I get to it. Obviously I just need to work on it a lot. It’s just not good enough.”
Not coming his way
Norris’ biggest strength throughout his career has been his qualifying pace, and he added that he doesn’t fully know the reason for all his mistakes, as he said: “I don’t know, to be honest. I’m not going to just blame the car. That’s not me.
“I felt good all weekend. I felt good in Q1 and Q2. I felt like there is lap time available. But when I try and go for the lap time, it just doesn’t go. Clearly, a lot of things changed from last year.”
He added: “Qualifying has been my biggest strength by a long way. This year, it’s just not coming my way. I think we understand some reasons why.
“Of course, I’m not going to be the happiest about it because I want to be fighting for pole. Things are just not going the way that they should do. I’m working hard, the team are working hard. It’s difficult moments, but it’s the way it is at the minute.“
Norris said afterwards to written media: “It was good until the final two laps. Not quick enough, that’s all.”
Compared to Piastri
Norris is sitting 16 points behind his Australian teammate in the Drivers’ Championship.
With Piastri going on to win his fourth P1 result after the Miami GP, Norris has sat behind his teammate, with a P2 in Miami, P4 in Saudi Arabia and P3 in Bahrain.
Norris admitted that it is difficult to be behind his team-mate and said: “I mean it’s difficult because I’m not on pole, I want to fight for pole. Formula 1 is difficult.”
A tough Imola GP
Norris expects a tough Imola GP, which came after a strong team finish of a 1-2 at the Miami GP.
Norris has scored three podiums at the famous Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola in the previous F1 seasons.
When Norris was asked if the Imola GP would have its difficulties, he admitted that it would be tricky and said: “It’s going to be tricky. I think overtaking naturally is going to be quite impossible. There’s maybe some good chances of strategy.
“I just hope the tyres die very quickly. I think we can do better as a team than others. Maybe that will open up my chances to do overcuts or undercuts on the guys ahead.
“But we’ve not done many long runs. We’ve not used the hard tyre yet. So many unanswered questions, but of course, I’ll do everything, as always, to try to race my way back.”
Norris continued: “I don’t think our pace is that much better. It’s definitely going to be better I presume than the others, I’m here to win and now I don’t have much of a chance of winning. If I can get on the podium that would be nice.“
Strategy for Imola GP
During the Imola GP qualifying, some drivers opted to use the medium tyres for their qualification laps, such as George Russell, who took P3 during the event.
Norris considered using the mediums at times, as he said: “Because the medium is just as good as the soft. In fact, maybe it’s better, so potential. Some drivers did do it. We’ll see.”
When Norris was asked if the biggest opportunity for him was the start, he answered candidly and said: “It’s a one-stop, maybe a two-stop. Of course, the start is my biggest opportunity. But to get past more than one person off the line here is not very easy. It’s very narrow.
“I’m racing with drivers who take a lot of risks. It’s a long season, and I’ve got to balance my way through it.”
