It’s no surprise that Lando Norris is upset about his crash during the qualifiers in Saudi Arabia. But just how disappointed is he? “I’m very disappointed, both for myself and the team,” he admits to F1.com long after the event. Despite this, the British driver tries to stay positive, as the race promises much. “The car is fast, that’s not the issue.”
Norris, the current leader in the World Championship standings, will start in tenth place on Sunday in Jeddah. This means he faces a race to catch up. Winning the race, he believes, is a step too far. “You can see it with Oscar Piastri: we at McLaren are not head and shoulders above the rest. Russell is only a tenth slower and Max Verstappen is even on pole. Getting involved in the race for the lead will be difficult, but I do expect to be able to overtake some cars.”
The speed is certainly there. But first, the car needs to be repaired. “The team will have to put in a lot of work,” says Norris, who is also upset about the significant damage caused by the crash in Q3. “It’s been such a positive weekend so far, smooth and without problems. And now I’ve let myself down, another setback. I have to take this hit. Apologies to the team, to the engineers, and on Sunday we’ll try to make the best of it.”
