Lando Norris accused Max Verstappen of “ruining everything” after he was denied a shock pole position at the British Grand Prix by Formula One’s dominant Dutchman.
For a dozen seconds, Norris sat at qualifying’s summit in front of a sell-out Silverstone crowd only to watch Verstappen – the second-but-last man over the line – knock him off his perch.
Verstappen snatched top spot from Norris by 0.241 seconds, with Oscar Piastri third on an excellent day for McLaren.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished fourth and fifth for Ferrari, with Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton only sixth and seventh on another sub-par afternoon for the grid’s once dominant team.
Norris, 23, has endured a poor season in his under-performing McLaren machine, but the British team’s first major upgrade of the season worked wonders on home turf.
Norris threatened throughout qualifying – sitting at the top of the timings at various stages in Q1, Q2 and Q3 – before a knockout blow from Verstappen stopped him landing only his second career pole.
“I was so close,” said Norris. He added with a smile: “Max ruins everything for everyone.
“I was watching the TV screens and I was surprised how long I stayed up there for. I did not make a mistake. It was all about when Max crossed the line and if he made a mistake, not if we could beat him.”
McLaren CEO Zak Brown celebrated wildly, hugging and high-fiving anyone he could find dressed in the team’s papaya colours.
Norris added: “I could hear Zak on the radio during the in-lap, which was the best thing ever. To be second and third was amazing for the whole team.”
Norris will have his work cut out to claim what would be a maiden win in his 92nd start, with Verstappen in a class of one this year.
The 25-year-old Dutchman will be bidding to take his eighth win from the 10 rounds so far on his unrelenting march to a third straight world championship.
“I have some reason to believe we can do OK but not enough to beat this guy,” added Norris, pointing towards the Red Bull man.
“It is clear we have made some progress and we have made a decent step forward. It is payback for the work that has been done by the team.
“Max and I are very good friends. We grew up at a similar time, and we share the same mentality because we love it.
“But as soon as we put the helmet on, all the respect we have off the track, we forget that. It makes no difference about us being friends.”
No driver has won the British Grand Prix on more occasions than Hamilton, with the 38-year-old winning seven of the last 10 races staged here.
But the Mercedes driver will be deeply frustrated to start only seventh, half-a-second off the pace, in front of his home fans.
Sergio Perez’s dismal run of form continued after he was eliminated from the opening phase of qualifying.
The Mexican was first out of the pits when the action resumed following a red flag to clear Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.
Perez momentarily headed to the top of the order, but the evolution of a drying track saw him tumble all the way down to 16th when Q1 came to an end.
It marked the fifth consecutive grand prix in which Perez has failed to make it into Q3 in a machine Hamilton described as the fastest the sport has ever seen.
Despite the threat of action from Just Stop Oil protesters, qualifying passed off without incident.
However, F1 bosses, Silverstone and Northamptonshire Police remain on high alert that a protest could yet disrupt Sunday’s 52-lap race where 150,000 spectators are expected to attend.
Security has been beefed up, with facial recognition cameras posted around the 3.66 mile track in a move to foil a potential plot.
Hamilton lauds 'quite incredible' Ferrari form ahead of 2025 move
Lewis Hamilton said watching Ferrari and McLaren overhaul Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship has been "quite incredible" ahead of his move to the Italian team.
Red Bull appeared to be set for another dominant year on track after Max Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races, with team-mate Sergio Perez also securing four podiums.
However, Red Bull endured a mid-season struggle, with Verstappen failing to win in 10 races before his stunning wet-weather display at the Brazilian Grand Prix last time out.
The Dutchman is on the cusp of a fourth world championship after title rival Lando Norris could only manage sixth in Interlagos, leaving him 62 points behind in the standings.
But going into the final three races of the season, Red Bull find themselves third in the constructors' championship, 44 points behind leaders McLaren and 13 adrift of Ferrari.
Before Verstappen's victory in Brazil, Ferrari had claimed back-to-back victories in the United States and Mexico.
Charles Leclerc, Hamilton's team-mate for the Scuderia next season, won in Austin to emerge victorious for the eighth time in the competition.
That triumph was then followed up by a win at the Autrodromo Hermanos Rodriguez by Carlos Sainz, who will make way for Hamilton and join Williams next season.
And Ferrari's recent displays on track have Hamilton excited about the potential of challenging for an eighth world championship next season.
"I'm very interested in my future, of course," said Hamilton. "And so, in that respect, keeping an eye, yeah. Watching everything that happens."
"If you look at somewhere like maybe China already, the Red Bull was like a second ahead.
"And it's been quite incredible to see the McLaren rise and then the Ferrari in the last few races, to see their progress and just trying to keep an eye on everyone's car and what they're changing and what they're adding.
"You know, we all watch the video, all the drivers, we all watch the onboard laps and we're always trying to see where we can gain time.
"And there's some cars that just react differently and better or worse in certain areas.
"And you're trying to figure out how you can find that within either your balance or get the team to develop the car in that direction."
Hamilton could 'take a holiday' after Sao Paulo disappointment
Lewis Hamilton says he "could happily go and take a holiday" instead of finishing the season after a dismal showing at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
He made early exits in both qualifying sessions and started the race at Interlagos from 15th on the grid.
However, unlike Max Verstappen, who impressively won the race having started in 17th, the Brit struggled to mount much of a fight, coming away from the weekend with just one point after finishing in 10th.
His performance was made to look worse as team-mate George Russell had been battling for the lead but narrowly missed out on a podium place as he finished fourth.
Hamilton only has three races left with Mercedes before his move to Ferrari next season, bringing an end to their 12-year partnership.
But he was left frustrated in Brazil, expressing his disappointment with the car.
"We were just slow," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1. "The car was really, really tough. I do really want to say still a big thank you to the guys in the garage. They turned up super early this morning and still did a great job throughout the weekend.
"The team could have won also, so at least one car was behaving a lot better.
"The car is like a plank of wood. It's like no suspension.
"It's bouncing on the tyres everywhere, and you can't get on the power anywhere. It's just the worst ride, I think the worst ride that we've definitely ever had, particularly through corners. It's just so stiff.
"But hopefully we won't have any more bumpy tracks. I think the last three aren't so bumpy. But yeah, I could happily go and take a holiday."
Norris claims Verstappen 'got lucky' in Brazil as title hopes fade
Lando Norris said Max Verstappen benefitted from a rule "no one agrees with" as he won a dramatic Sao Paulo Grand Prix to leave the McLaren's title hopes hanging by a thread.
Verstappen surged to a terrific victory from 17th on the grid in Brazil, with Norris faltering after starting on pole.
Norris and Mercedes' George Russell – who were vying for the lead – both pitted on lap 29, but that strategy backfired as the red flag was shown following a crash involving Franco Colapinto.
With the race suspended, Verstappen was also able to change tires for the restart, negating Norris' advantage from pitting as the world champion raced to a commanding victory.
Norris had cut Verstappen's drivers' championship lead to 44 points by winning Saturday's sprint race but now sits 62 points adrift with just three races of the season remaining.
The Brit refused to hit out at McLaren's strategy after the race, though, putting his struggles down to bad luck.
"I have faith in the team in what they are saying and they have trust in me," he told Sky Sports F1.
"It was just unlucky. I don't care about the hindsight side of things, that's luck for them, nothing more.
"They got lucky on a rule that no one agrees with. Probably they agreed with it today but every driver has disagreed with it in the past.
"Today it benefitted them, it could have benefitted us if we just stayed out, but that's a stupid thing to think of.
"Just a bit unlucky today, nothing more. Of course, disappointing. Max drove well. He got a bit lucky but that's life."
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