The Jeddah Corniche circuit is one of the fastest street circuits in the world. The combination of high speeds, 27 corners and constantly covered walls pushes the driver to the limit and punishes minimal mistakes.
That was the fate of Lando Norris during the qualifying round for the Formula 1 Saudi Arabia Grand Prix.
Another week after seeing Norris qualify as a favorite, the McLaren driver came out at the wrong end of the lawsuit. Last week was at Bahrain Granpuran, where Norris ran strong through three practice sessions and only managed to qualify in sixth place. Along the Red Sea on Saturday, Norris qualified again as a favorite, but in his first run in the fifth quarter, wobble hit a wall at the exit of Turn 5, ending his dream of pole position.
The key is that Norris was fine after the shock, but a small mistake was that Max Verstappen took Paul’s position and raised more questions about the fight for the driver’s championship.
“I’m just disappointed today,” Norris began. When you talk to Sky Sports F1 Following the sudden ejection from the qualifying round.
“I know I have to look forward to tomorrow. I’m going now and meeting my engineers. I’ll be ahead of what I can do tomorrow. We know that cars are good. “I go and see the engineers, apologize, see what I can do for tomorrow and try to make a good plan. But tomorrow will require a little luck.
“It’s been a very smooth and positive weekend so far, but I’m disappointed to have such a set-off,” Norris continued as he spoke to the official F1 channel.
“You have to take it on your chin.”
Norris downplayed the chances of accusations on the front, noting that overtaking is often difficult due to being punished by the Jeddah Cornish Circuit.
“That’s very difficult, I don’t expect anything magical because it’s almost impossible to pass around here,” Norris added when he said. Sky Sports F1. “But we have a good car, and if we can go all the way to the top five or six, I would be happy.
“Oscar wasn’t on Paul. Our pace was clearly not that good than Max. Even George [Russell] It’s not too far so I don’t think it’s that realistic to get close to them, but trying to reach the top five is probably our target. ”
Norris entered the weekend with a mere three points lead over Piastri in the drivers’ championship. However, given the locations where drivers line up to start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on Sunday, it’s very likely that Norris is looking up at one or more of the drivers in the rankings that will come on Monday morning.
Still, the teams around him vowed to pick him up before the race.
“Focus on racing. It’s probably a one-stop race, but there’s a good chance that it’s a safe car around here,” said McLaren CEO Zak Brown. Sky Sports F1 When asked how the team would prepare him on Sunday.
“So focus on the race, do your best you can and see if you can bring him further onto the grid.
“He’s certainly going to be faster than he qualifies.”
Will it be enough to keep him in the driver’s championship?
