Small changes following opening practice for the Spanish Grand Prix were the key to Lando Norris securing a surprise third in qualifying.
The McLaren driver was just 0.06s off a front-row berth in what is his, and the team’s best Saturday performance of the year.
“After FP1, we said it was probably one of our worst FP1s of the season, in terms of pace,” Norris said.
“It’s quite a big surprise for all of us. I think the conditions – the cooler conditions – things just started to come our way a little bit.
“Just feels a bit odd. I definitely wasn’t thinking at all to be in the top three.”
Both Norris and team-mate Oscar Piastri showed well in qualifying, and at points during practice too.
The McLaren pairing both progressed to Qualifying 3 with Piastri ruing a mistake that left him 10th.
Norris started the weekend with the 11th fastest time in opening practice, dropping to 14th in Free Practice 2.
However, he was much happier with the car from the second session, which laid the groundwork for his Qualifying result.
“Just small things really,” he said when asked what he changed following Free Practice 1.
“Nowadays you can get the car quite quickly in a reasonable window, is just playing around with little things here and there.
“That’s why I say it probably came a bit more towards us, rather than us chasing too many things.
“But it also felt like I did some good laps. I felt confident.
“Even with the car being a bit of a struggle, I still felt confident in maximising it and getting the most out of the car every run.
“Especially come qualifying, I just felt again another step of confidence.”
Though he’ll start the race from third, Norris is realistic and expects to slip down the order.
While McLaren has enjoyed good single-lap pace on new tyres, that falls away sharply once the rubber starts to degrade.
There are also a number of drivers out of position; Charles Leclerc will start from the pit lane, Sergio Perez is 11th in a Red Bull that has enjoyed incredible pace through practice, and George Russell starts 12th – another car that would be expected to out-race the McLaren.
“You never know, the pace could be mega and I could catch Max and overtake him,” Norris joked.
“Hopefully he doesn’t hold me up like in Monaco!
“Probably won’t defend to them, to be honest, I just let them pass,” he added of the prospect of defending Perez, Russell, and Leclerc.
“Sergio is going to cruise passed everyone and probably be to P2 by Lap 10 and we’ll get lapped twice.
“We’re still in a tight race with people but our race is not necessarily the Red Bulls, it’s going to be the people that we’re around; the Alpines, the Astons, the Mercedes, that group.”
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