Lando Norris took pole position for the Sprint in Qatar, and the McLaren F1 driver did not hide his joy at having achieved it, after two weekends behind. The Briton is delighted with the pleasure he had behind the wheel and with this first objective accomplished.
“It’s so fast here. It’s the fastest circuit of the year. In the last sector you feel like you’re just hanging on” Norris said. “A good qualification, especially to bounce back after Las Vegas.”
“It’s a good thing to do. It was a decent lap. I made too many mistakes on my second lap. We came here to get pole and that’s what we did, so the work was done today.”
Norris knows that McLaren, with its pole and Oscar Piastri’s third place, can take points back from Ferrari, and he wants to win to help his team: “I want to win. As drivers we want to win every session. Our goal is to do a double. We want to maximize the points for the manufacturers.”
“We want to go all the way. We know it will be a battle. Mercedes will be fast, Ferrari will be fast. I don’t expect an easy race, but probably an exciting race for everyone watching, so I can’t wait until tomorrow.”
Piastri is satisfied with his third place, even if he hoped to do better during his fast lap: “I’m reasonably happy. I didn’t have the best ride of my life, but in these conditions it’s difficult.”
“I struggled a bit at the start, but I felt like I was in the mix at the end, with very fine gaps. This circuit is great to drive. There is a lot more grip than the last year, so the high-speed turns are a lot of fun.”
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