Lando Norris expressed satisfaction with his second-place finish in the qualifying round for the Austrian Grand Prix, trailing behind a formidable Max Verstappen. “Max was in a class of his own,” the British McLaren driver candidly admitted after the race.
After the thrilling qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring, the timesheet spoke volumes. Only Norris managed to stay within half a second of Verstappen (0.404 seconds), with the gap to the rest being more than half a second.
‘Challenging Conditions’
“The conditions were challenging to drive a perfect lap, but I have to be satisfied with this. The second time was the maximum achievable,” said Norris, who earlier in the day had finished third in the sprint race, behind Verstappen and his teammate Oscar Piastri. Norris was easily overtaken by Verstappen in that race.
For tomorrow’s race (start: 6:00 AM UST), he hopes for a sporting revenge, although Norris realizes it will be difficult. “We need to find something extra to beat the pace Max has. And I will have to do better than this morning,” said Norris, referring to his mistake in the sprint race. “Normally we are always better in the race than in qualifying, so I’m looking forward to it.”
