The championship leader came unstuck just four corners into his first flying lap in Qualifying 3.

Running wide at the left-hander of Turn 4, the MCL39 mounted the exit kerb, firing it across the road and into the concrete wall.

The incident drew the red flag and meant Norris took no further part in the session, leaving him 10th on the grid without a time to his name.

Immediately following the incident, he reported he was uninjured over the radio before describing himself as a “f*****g idiot.”

“Makes sense,” he subsequently said of the comments.

“I mean, I agree with it. I should be fighting for pole and, especially on a Q1 lap, I shouldn’t be taking any silly risks like I seem to have done.”

While Norris swore over the radio, which was beeped out on the broadcast, it seems unlikely the Brit will be penalised as the matter was not referred to, nor investigated by the stewards.

The car received damage to the front and rear left corners in the crash, prompting a long night of repairs for mechanics.

The crash occurred after Norris appeared to chase the rear end of the MCL39 under acceleration out of the left-hander, pushing him wide and onto the kerb, at which point be became a passenger.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said of the crash.

“I need time to look into it and see… Just a mistake, I guess.”

Verstappen mugs McLaren as Norris crashes in Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying

McLaren headed into the qualifying hour favourites for pole position but instead saw Max Verstappen take that mantle, with Oscar Piastri 0.01s back in second place in the other McLaren.

“It was pretty comfortable, I was pretty happy until then,” he said.

“The car was strong, so [I’m] disappointed.

“Obviously, I made my life and everyone’s in the team a lot trickier for tomorrow and a lot harder, because the guys have got a big job tonight to try and fix everything.

“But it’s life. This happens on a rare occasion. So, yeah, tough one.”

While starting 10th is far from ideal, McLaren displayed strong race pace during practice.

The Jeddah circuit features three DRS zones to aid overtaking, though it remains difficult around the sinuous layout.

“I don’t think it’s going to be an easy one, because I don’t think it’s very easy to ever take around here,” Norris said.

“We have a strong car, clearly not as good as what we would like because we’re not on pole.

“Max is first, and George [Russell] is only a tenth behind [in third], so it’s not like things are plain sailing at the minute.”

Norris heads into the race holding a three-point lead in the championship over teammate Piastri.

Should Piastri nose ahead in that competition, he will become the first Australian since Mark Webber in 2010 to lead the drivers’ standings.