F1 champion Lando Norris: Sprint qualifying debacle at Silverstone averted

For Lando Norris, the Sprint Qualifying session at the Silverstone Circuit proved particularly difficult. The Formula 1 champion was hampered by damage that had almost led to his elimination in SQ2. What had happened? The McLaren star appears to have damaged the front brake cooling system on the right-hand side during a wild ride over the kerbs. This meant he could not finish higher than tenth place in the first two qualifying segments.

Late relief thanks to the McLaren pit crew

The eleven-time Grand Prix winner thus scraped through to SQ3, with just 81 thousandths separating him from Pierre Gasly in eleventh place. Before the final, decisive session, relief came as his team did a brilliant job of repairing the damage. Nevertheless, Norris had his work cut out for him, as he lacked the rhythm to push right to the limit. In the end, he had to settle for sixth place. He was 0.364 seconds off Lewis Hamilton’s pole time.

Looking back, the 26-year-old admitted: “The damage had a bigger impact than I’d realised. It wasn’t until just before the final attempt that we managed to sort it out. The lads did a brilliant job, but the car felt completely different afterwards. It was much better, though I felt I could have got a lot more out of it on the final attempt, once I’d finally got the right feel for it.”

Lando Norris warns: Strong front-runners

“It was all a bit unfortunate, but the pace was there and I’ll try to move further up the field in the race,” promised Norris, adding with a view to the cars starting ahead of him: “Perhaps I’ve got a chance against Max Verstappen’s Red Bull Racing car, but George Russell and Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes are significantly faster, so it’ll be difficult to make any headway there. That said, you never know – in the end, I felt much more comfortable in the car and I just need to work out a few things to know what’s possible in the Sprint.”

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