Norris jokes about start of Hungarian GP: 'Bottas won't be behind me'
F1 News
Those who thought Lando Norris' performance in qualifying for the Grand Prix at Silverstone was a one-off are wrong. Once again, the McLaren driver will start in the top three. Despite that, Norris was not entirely satisfied during the post-qualifying press conference.
"I think the one we struggled with the most was probably the hard tyre in the beginning. But the medium and the soft I was pretty happy with. Just nine hundredths, it wasn't like it was a bad session just probably when you're under a tenth off pole or eight hundreds off pole you feel like that was within your driving, you know, if you just did something slightly differently just got on the throttle a little bit earlier. So I guess a little bit frustrating, especially to be so close but at the same time still to be in P3, but we're also happy" the nevertheless disappointed Briton explained.
Norris names misconception about Hungaroring
Despite the disappointment, Norris is very surprised by the speed of his car: "I think the thing is, everyone says Budapest is a slow-speed circuit, but really it's still I say it's a lot closer to medium-speed. You never even use second gear around the whole circuit. So the slowest speed is still where we struggle. But definitely closer. I think we're pretty happy with that."
Oscar Piastri also performed well, and may start from P4. Despite the good performance, Norris still expects that they will not be as competitive at every circuit: "Like I said, it's a medium-speed circuit. It's not a slow-speed circuit. We just happy with where we are. I'm very proud of the team and the progress we made."
Norris jokes about Bottas
With Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen ahead of him, it could be another great start to the race for Norris. Indeed, the distance from the starting places to the first corner is very long. "Bottas isn't behind me at the minute so that's a good start," joked the Briton, referring to the start in Hungary in 2021. "t's going be tough, Lewis [Hamilton] I think is one of the best starters, Mercedes are very good starters. To get them off the line is going to be a challenge I think they're consistently one of the best starters on the grid. So to get a jump on him, it's going to be difficult. If Max [Verstappen] can do what he did in Silverstone, it’ll be wonderful. I think I just need to focus on getting a good start myself and focus on my own job, and we'll see from there."