Norris explains Q3 mistake despite P2 in Dutch Grand Prix qualifying
F1 News
Lando Norris believes he might be able to challenge Max Verstappen during the Dutch Grand Prix, but only for the opening laps. The McLaren driver will start from second and line up alongside the Dutchman in a repeat start from the British Grand Prix in July.
Verstappen v Norris
Norris beat Verstappen off the start line at Silverstone, but couldn't keep the Dutchman behind for long. Norris suggested the same might be possible at Zandvoort, but he insists the Red Bull car has the significantly stronger race pace.
“I'll challenge him for probably two laps, and then he'll drive away. I think there's quite a bit of tyre degradation here, and that's not our forte. We start to struggle quite a bit in certain corners, but we've improved the car quite a bit. I'm not going to say no. I'm going to give it a try, but Max [Verstappen] is always on another level when it comes to Sunday and tyre degradation and race pace. There are opportunities, but it's going to be tough,” Norris explained.
Norris then goes on to explain that he made a mistake during his qualifying lap. In the end, he missed on pole by around half-a-second, but believes he wouldn't have been able to challenge for pole even without the mistake.
"My first half of the lap was very good, my second half was pretty terrible. I had a double shift out of Turn 10, which probably cost me a couple of tenths but at the same time, nothing would have got me enough to get past Verstappen. He did a good job, these conditions where you hope something might come your way and it didn't today but P2 was still a good result for us," he concluded.
Norris will have fellow countrymen George Russell and Alex Albon behind. The British-Thai driver ensured Williams started on the second-row whilst his teammate crashed out in Q3.