F1 News: Lando Norris Reflects On "Bad Job" Despite McLaren's Strong Showing

Lando Norris is not happy with his performance during the Qatar GP weekend so far.

Lando Norris, despite a stellar performance from his McLaren team, expressed palpable disappointment over his own execution at the Qatar GP Sprint Shootout. The reflective driver lamented missed opportunities, underscoring a personal frustration amidst a notable team success.

Key Takeaways

• Despite the team showcasing a commendable performance, with Oscar Piastri securing pole position, Norris’ self-admitted underwhelming performance and deleted lap times painted a contrasting picture.
• Norris did not shy away from being forthright about his performance, pointing towards his own mistakes and inability to piece together a satisfactory lap, despite recognising the car’s capability and the team’s excellent groundwork.

Norris's open admittance of self-dissatisfaction was evident when he openly expressed to the media following the Qatar GP Sprint Shootout: 

“I’m happy for the team, happy for Oscar, but I did another bad job today. I don’t know what I’m going to say, I’m just not happy, I’m not doing a very good job. Yeah, should have been pole yesterday, should have been pole today, but I’m not.”

Further probing into the root of his frustrations revealed a critique focused towards his own execution:

"Just mistakes, not putting the lap together when I need to. Easily quick enough for pole, I just didn’t put it together at all but Oscar did a good job. Max has done a good job again, so [it’s] frustrating. The car’s quick enough, the team is doing an excellent job, but I’m just not delivering on what I need to do, so of course I’m not going to be happy with myself.”

F1 News: Lando Norris On Piastri Pressure - "It's Not A Nice Thing, It's Not What I Want"

As the stage is set for the Qatar Grand Prix, Norris will be commencing from a suboptimal tenth position, courtesy of a deleted lap time that would have ushered him to a much more advantageous third. Concurrently, his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri clinched a pole position for the Sprint Race, further exemplifying the potential housed within the McLaren MCL60, a potential Norris is unequivocally conscious of, yet feels he fell short of manifesting.