Norris grabs 'epic' second place with Verstappen on pole again

By Sports Desk July 03, 2021

Lando Norris described his "epic" second place in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix as one of the best laps he has driven in Formula One.

McLaren are back on the front row for the first time since 2012 after Norris incredibly finished just 0.048 seconds behind Max Verstappen, marginally missing out on a historic pole.

Verstappen became the first F1 driver to win three times at the Red Bull Ring as he beat Lewis Hamilton to victory last time out.

Having also won in France, the Dutchman looks well placed to make it a treble.

He was boosted as his team-mate Sergio Perez qualified third, meaning the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were left in fourth and fifth respectively.

George Russell – reportedly in the running to drive for the German team next year – took a brilliant ninth for Williams on a day of surprises.

Verstappen – unhappy with his team for the position he was put out in the running order in Q3 – could not improve in his second run, giving surprise challenger Norris the chance to come agonisingly close to pole.

But Verstappen has shown impressive form this weekend and it continued with another strong result, even if Norris was understandably attracting the attention after Saturday's session.

"I feel epic!" Norris said to Sky Sports. "It's one of the best laps I've done – I'm really happy with P2, my best qualifying in Formula One.

"One of my best laps in Formula One. It's a good feeling, so I'm looking forward to Sunday.

"It feels pretty cool. After the last race I wanted to take one more step [after qualifying fourth] – but we went two more! 

"It's nice to be in a good position for Sunday. I don't know how far I was off pole, bit gutted I didn't get pole – Sunday will be tough but we did the best job we could."

 

After a third straight pole and his fourth overall in 2021, Verstappen warned victory would not come easily as he looks to extend his 18-point lead in the drivers' standings.

"I think Q3 was pretty bad. Of course I'm happy to be first but not the way we got it," he said.

"Pole again is good. Hopefully we can finish it off on Sunday – it is never straightforward though.

"Softer compounds compared to last week, so it will be tough to manage those in the race but aside from that, we'll just try to focus on our own race and of course, we'll try to win it."

Both Ferraris and Fernando Alonso – who was angry at being held up by Sebastian Vettel in an incident that could result in a grid penalty – all missed out on progression from Q2.

It meant Yuki Tsunoda and Vettel were able to claim seventh and eighth, with Lance Stroll taking the last spot in the top 10 behind the impressive Russell.

Perez claimed third for Red Bull having initially looked poised to start further down the order after his first Q3 run.

"It's been a hard weekend up to now," the Mexican explained. "We have been chasing the balance and just exploring the car.

"It didn't come easy. It was very hard work – harder than you think.

"In the end we got a good lap and we have a good position. I believe we have got a better race car than qualifying."

Six consecutive top-five finishes have put Perez third in the championship prior to the ninth race of the campaign, with Norris fourth in the standings ahead of Bottas and Charles Leclerc.

 

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:03.720
2. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.048s
3. Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +0.270s
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +0.294s
5. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) +0.329s
6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) +0.387s
7. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) +0.553s
8. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) +0.850s
9. George Russell (Williams) +0.871s
10. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.898s

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    Lando Norris admitted he was "not comfortable" despite being fastest in the Belgian Grand Prix second practice.

    McLaren finished first and second on Friday, with Norris finishing just 0.215 seconds ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri.

    Max Verstappen finished third, but despite an impressive performance, his 10-place grid penalty will affect his result.

    Norris finished second in the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, behind Piastri, in a race overshadowed by a radio spat between the Brit and the pit wall.

    Having put that behind him, even after a confident practice session on Friday, Norris is not willing to rest on his laurels with Red Bull showing their threat.

    "Red Bull are very quick at the minute," Norris said. "So, tricky, but I've just not felt very comfortable today with the car.

    "So hopefully I just wake up [on Saturday] and feel a bit more comfortable with it. But we'll try and improve a few things and see again.

    "I know it looked good on the timesheets, but I've not felt super comfortable in just going out and doing it. So, hopefully, I can just get in a bit more of a rhythm and feel a bit better out there."

    Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton finished in 10th after struggling to match the pace set in the second session.

    Mercedes have been credited for their improvement in recent weeks, with Hamilton winning at Silverstone before finishing third at Hungaroring last Sunday.

    However, he was also left disappointed on Friday and said he was hoping for the forecast rain over the rest of the weekend to give the team more of an edge.

    "It was a pretty bad day," Hamilton said.

    "I don't really know what to say! Obviously, it's been feeling great in the past couple of races, but it just felt completely different today.

    "We worked on it. The first session was not great, but then in the second session we made some changes, and it started off great, and then when I got to the soft tyre I just couldn't improve and there were a bunch of balance issues we had through the lap.

    "It was better through this session, but everyone else went even better. So, to be 1.2s behind is not great.

    "If it rains, then that opens it up a little bit and, hopefully, we can do a better job. I think the car should be better in the wet than it is in the dry."

  • Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix Perez '100% certain' of Red Bull stay after Belgian Grand Prix

    Sergio Perez is confident he will still be at Red Bull after this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix regardless of the result.

    There has been a lot of speculation over the Mexican's future in recent weeks following a series of poor results at recent races, despite him signing a two-year extension with the team just last month.

    Since coming fourth at the Miami Grand Prix in May, Perez's best finish has been seventh, both in Austria and Hungary, and he failed to advance beyond Q1 in four of the last six races.

    His drop in form has allowed McLaren to close the gap to Red Bull in the constructors' championship to just 51 points.

    With the four-week break soon approaching, both RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull's reserve driver Liam Lawson have been linked with Perez's seat.

    However, the 34-year-old is certain he will still be competing alongside Max Verstappen when the season resumes.

    "I am 100% sure," Perez said.

    "Because I know basically what's in my contract and I know what the team trusts in me. And I know where is the main focus, which is on delivering on the track.

    "It's no different to what it was in Hungary or [at the first race] in Bahrain or how it will be in Zandvoort or the rest of the year," Perez said.

    "Every single weekend we've got to deliver the maximum, especially now that, with McLaren catching up in the constructors, it's really important to put everything together if we can achieve it.

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    McLaren chief executive Zak Brown has said meetings will take place to discuss whether to prioritise Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri for the remainder of the season. 

    The issue arose following last week's Hungarian Grand Prix, which saw Piastri's maiden win in Formula One overshadowed by Norris' radio spat with the pit wall. 

    Piastri had led much of the race before a bizarre pit-stop call by McLaren allowed Norris to take the lead, but was ordered to give the lead back to his team-mate. 

    Norris initially refused to do so, but with three laps remaining, handed the place back to the Australian as McLaren secured a first one-two since Monza in 2021. 

    Piastri's win at the Hungaroring made him the seventh different winner in 2024. It is the 16th different year with at least seven winners, the first since 2012 (eight).

    But one of Norris' protestations before giving the position back was his battle with Max Verstappen in the Driver's Championship. 

    Despite scoring his eighth podium of the season in Hungary, the Brit remains 76 points behind the three-time world champion. 

    Brown, who wasn't on the pit wall in Hungary but is back for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, said the decision would ultimately fall to team principal Andrea Stella.

    He told Sky Sports F1: "That's ultimately going to be Andrea's call. We want to get through the first half of the season, see where we end up this weekend.

    "I think the Constructors' Championship, while it's definitely not going to be easy, is well within reach.

    "I think the challenge on the drivers' front is Max's bad days are second and third places, so (it's difficult) to make those claw backs that we're making on the constructors' that we can do because (Sergio) Perez is struggling at the moment, we also know he's capable of turning it on at any moment.

    "That will be something I think we discuss over the summer break."

     

    McLaren's recent pace and form has seen them have a driver on the podium in the last nine races, cutting the gap to Red Bull in the Constructor's Championship. 

    The British team have another excellent opportunity to cut the gap in Spa, with Norris' championship rival Verstappen receiving a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday's race by exceeding his engine allowance for the season.

    But the Dutchman topped the first practice on Friday, with Piastri finishing 0.531 seconds behind with Norris down in ninth, 0.512secs off his McLaren team-mate.

    And Verstappen's showing has left Brown refusing to rule out the possibility of the three-time world champion claiming an eighth win of the season. 

    "It's a tricky track with how much downforce you want versus speed," Brown said.

    "You have to assume Max is on for pole, which is P11.

    "It would be a big mistake to think he can't go from P11 to P1 but we have to take every advantage you can."

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