F1 News
Norris praises engineer's encouragement: 'Don't want to boost his ego!'
Lando Norris explained how the advice of his engineer, Will Joseph, encouraged him during his qualifying question. The Brit secured first place after a blistering lap at the Circuit of the Americas. Max Verstappen, who won yesterday's sprint race and sits ahead of Norris in the standings, finished behind him in second. The McLaren driver revealed in the post-session press conference that Joseph's advice made a serious difference to his confidence.
After starting Saturday's sprint race from fourth, Lando Norris is set to start Sunday's Grand Prix from pole position. Qualifying was interrupted in the final phases after George Russell crashed heavily on his lap, meaning neither Norris nor Verstappen could complete their second Q3 laps. Still, Norris' efforts were good enough for the top spot on the grid.
McLaren hasn't been the best car at the Circuit of the Americas, with neither Norris nor Oscar Piastri feeling entirely comfortable throughout the weekend. Norris, however, praised a last-gasp piece of advice from his engineer, Will Joseph, after securing his seventh career pole.
Norris: "I don't like that kind of stuff, normally"
"Yeah, that's a very rare thing. (Taking onboard Joseph's advice) He knows I don't like that kind of stuff, normally," Norris began. "It's just because I said after, I think, Q2, I was just not confident at all in the car; it was bouncing everywhere, and I just lacked confidence at that point to put a good lap together and (I’d) been struggling in Turn 1, been struggling in Turn 12. But we were there, thereabouts. So it was more ‘just let's get a good lap in and be there’. So that's what I did," the McLaren driver explained.
"Whether or not what I did was because of Will's comments, I'd probably say no, otherwise I'll boost his ego too much. But, yeah, I probably needed it a little bit. Just because I was struggling a lot with the car and we've been a bit off this weekend, and a little kick never hurts sometimes." The championship challenger concluded.
Norris headed into the United States Grand Prix race weekend, 52 points behind Max Verstappen. After the sprint race, that gap now sits at 54 points as Norris secured third, whilst Verstappen returned to the top step. The McLaren driver will be hoping to convert his pole into another much-needed victory in Texas.
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