(Motorsport-Total.com) – Although Lando Norris secured pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix, the world champion himself did not consider his pole lap an exceptional performance: “The lap didn’t feel mega,” he said after the session.
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From the outside, however, the reigning champion’s lap appeared extremely impressive. After all, the McLaren driver had briefly lost his top spot in the drizzle to Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. Nevertheless, Norris managed to keep a cool head and secure pole position for the Grand Prix.
“I don’t even know how much the rain influenced it,” explained the world champion. “The lap was certainly better than expected. Maybe the track just cooled down a bit, and the tires could even perform a little better because of that.”
No problems in the drizzle for Norris
“But,” said Norris, “I wouldn’t say it had a negative impact. Only my first corner was a disaster, probably the worst of the entire weekend.”
At the same time, Norris admits that he made some mistakes during the lap. With the tight time gaps in qualifying, he had to take full risks to ultimately secure pole position. “Apparently, I just gained more time than I lost,” explained the McLaren driver.
“It was always hard to know [where we stood], because I didn’t know the delta. So I didn’t know where I was faster and where I was slower. It was just a lap where I thought: ‘I have nothing to lose,’ and that paid off. Such laps are really great.”
MCL40 too slow in Zandvoort?
Before the sprint, Norris had predicted that despite its numerous upgrades in Hungary and the Netherlands, the MCL40 might not be fast enough. According to Norris, not much has been changed on the car since then.
“The car didn’t necessarily feel better where we have problems,” explained Norris. “Our biggest time losses were in the same places and the same corners as this morning. New tires and low fuel seem to mask our weaknesses a bit. That was probably the case today as well.”
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“And,” the world champion adds, “I drove well. A lot came together. I got more out of my lap than yesterday. It wasn’t the perfect lap, but I’m driving well at the moment.”
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“As I said last weekend: If the car is in a window where I can develop a bit of confidence and move it at the level I’m at, then we can be on pole.”
Since the Hungarian Grand Prix, McLaren has introduced further upgrades for the MCL40. The team from Woking had already impressed at the Hungaroring and secured victory with Norris. Consequently, team principal Andrea Stella emphasizes:
“[The pole in Zandvoort] confirms the pole position we achieved in Hungary,” he explained after the session. “It gives us the basis for a trend. We see that the car works very well with a lot of downforce. Apparently, we also see that it works very well with new soft tires.”
Tire wear as a weakness for McLaren
“A lot of grip comes from the tires, but at the same time, we saw in the sprint that we still need to improve the car on used tires and reduce tire wear if we want to be competitive tomorrow.”
According to Stella, the focus between sprint and qualifying was on relieving the rear axle of the car. “[The tire] holds up over one lap on the new soft, but if you demand too much from [the rear tires], then you have to pay dearly for it in the following laps.”
Accordingly, Norris answers skeptically when asked about the long-run performance of the Papaya cars: “At low speeds, we simply have too many problems to predict anything. We have certainly made some progress, but tomorrow will be anything but easy.”
Team principal Stella emphasizes that McLaren is aiming for a double podium. According to the 55-year-old, the pace of Oscar Piastri, starting from fourth position, is exactly sufficient for that.