Dejected Norris describes his performance as "shocking"
F1 News
Lando Norris hopes to challenge Max Verstappen in the final six race weekends but was left dejected after the first meaningful session of the United States Grand Prix weekend. The McLaren driver described his lap as "shocking" in sprint qualifying and will start from fourth place on the grid.
Meanwhile, his title rival Verstappen will start from pole position in the sprint race. Even though most points are available on Sunday, Norris can't afford to let Verstappen extend his 52-point lead.
How did Norris react to sprint qualifying?
"Not a great day. Been struggling the whole day with the balance and the set up," Norris said before suggesting it could've been worse. "In a way, happy with P4 because I felt like it could have been a lot worse. But my lap was shocking. Not a terrible day. Could have been worse, could have been better. But I'll take it," Norris told F1TV.
Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have all introduced upgrades, but Norris downplayed the changes made by the Woking-based team. "It's not a new package. It's pretty much the same," he added before shifting his focus to Saturday's sprint. "I have to go forward, that's my plan, but on pace I think we are where we deserve to be today. So I plan to go forward but I have no idea how much we can," Norris said.
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