Lando Norris wore the Saudi-Arab Grand Prix with a three-point lead on teammate Oscar Pienestri in the driver’s championship.
But a crash in Q3 on Saturday put Norris on the back foot, and the McLaren director rolled off the line tenth when the lights went out in the Jeddah Corniche circuit. Norris started on the hard tire – unlike the rest of the top ten who all started on the medium -sized compound – and went for a long time, several picking up on his elongated Stint. I inherited the leadership on round 30 after the leaders have all made their pit stops, but in the end I settled for fourth place, just the second behind Finisher Charles Leclerc.
It was again a strong recovery ride from the McLaren driver, but it was not enough to hold his lead in the driver’s championship. With Piastri who won the victory for Max Verstappen, the teammate of Norris is now at the top of the table, with an advantage of ten points.
“That was a tough one,” Norris admitted when he spoke with the official F1 channel. “This track is heavy, this temperature is difficult and it is downright. There is no saving on the tires here, it is downright from start to finish. Much as I would have been having.
“It would have been nice to get Charles and to have a small stage and I would now drink all the champagne because I would like it – or the apple juice would be even better. I dream of that at the moment.
“But I think it was the best that we could reach today. It is clear that we are not a head and shoulders above the rest.”
Norris admitted that a break was not only looking ahead, because the grid is a week off for the Miami Grand Prix, but that makes Life Taugh for itself subtimes.
“As Oscar demonstrated, it is not an easy race. Max Probabry would have won if he hadn’t had the criminal that I just don’t get as much as I need, I make my life pretty difficult like today,” Norris added.
“I am still happy. I am happy with my comeback. It is the best I could reach and now I am looking forward to a break.”
As for where to improve, Norris has polished until Saturday. As we saw on Saturday in the Saudi -Arab Grand Prix, that extra risk in the car can lead to a disaster, especially on a track that punishes mistakes such as the Jeddah Corniche circuit.
“It’s my Qali, it’s my Saturday that they are not good? I just have to tie it back,” Norris continued.
“It is clear that I have the pace and it is all in it. It is just a few summaries, I try to ask a lot and I get Submathe a bit too enthusiastic to make a little more enthusiastic and want to bring the must perfect together and I just have to relax a little.”
Now Norris goes back to Miami, where he gained his first Grand Prix victory a year ago. The circuit will look a bit different than in 2024, because there is a McLaren stand, to the part of fans who were together to honor the team, and those Maiden Grand Prix victory.
Will that help Norris to “relax” a little? We will discover it in a few weeks.