F1 News
Norris identifies key target for Sunday, and it's not just Verstappen
Lando Norris will start on the front row alongside his teammate Oscar Piastri for Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix. The pair will look to keep world-champion Max Verstappen behind them if they wish to maintain their one-two. Nevertheless, for Norris, Verstappen is not the target to beat.
After a busy qualifying session, which included two red flags, Norris was able to secure pole position for Sunday's race. The McLaren driver had already appeared strong in FP3 earlier in the day, with the team being able to convert this to a one-two, the first for them since 2012. This is Norris' second pole position of the season, with his first being in Barcelona in June. In recent weeks, the Brit has continued to perform well, despite some mistakes which have been made by the team.
Norris, who sits second behind Verstappen in the Driver's standings, admitted that he is not overly concerned by the world-champion, who starts in third. In the post-qualifying press confernece, the McLaren driver was asked how vital it is for him to beat the Red Bull driver. Norris responded: "I don't think it's important. Every single qualifying is important. Every race is important. So it's not all of a sudden I need to do it and I need to prove my point. I don't."
Can Norris convert his pole position to a win?
Although the team have consistently featured on the podium this season, they have not had another win since Norris' in Miami. The pole-sitter remains confident though: "We've done the best we could in every race. I think we've shown great pace and great opportunities. I know we've missed out on some. We don't need to get back into all of that stuff," he said. "It would be nice just to have a nice turn one and see what happens from there. But I'm not expecting it. I'm expecting a difficult race with Oscar and Max behind."
With the team just seven points behind Ferrari in the Constructors, they will be looking for points to move into second place behind Red Bull. They will also look to capitalise on the team's problems with Sergio Perez, who begins in 16th. But, Verstappen is not the sole target for the Brit. "The more we can try to get back on Max, the more we as a team can get on Red Bull and other constructors, the better. So no point or emphasis on trying to be the particular someone or something. It's just go out and do what we do because we're doing a good job," he concluded.