'I've let myself & the team down' - Norris on qualifying 'shunt'
Saudi Arabian Grand PrixVenue: Jeddah Date: 20 April Race start: 18:00 BSTCoverage: Live radio commentary online and BBC 5 Sports Extra; live text updates on the BBC Sport website and app
Lando Norris says he has a "big job" on his hands to try to recover in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from his crash in qualifying.The Briton, who leads McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri by three points in the drivers' championship heading into the race, starts 10th after his accident. Red Bull's Max Verstappen is on pole position, ahead of Piastri and Mercedes' George Russell.Norris said: "I don't think it's going to be an easy one because I don't think it's very easy to overtake around here."We have a strong car but clearly not as good as we would like because Max is on pole and George is only 0.1secs behind, so it's not like things are plain sailing at the minute."[I've got] a big job to try and do."
McLaren showed extremely strong race pace during the practice sessions in Jeddah but Norris said he was "going to need a bit of luck" in the grand prix.He said that to "get close" to Verstappen, Piastri and Norris was "not very realistic"."It's almost impossible to overtake around here, so I'm not expecting anything magical," Norris said."But we have a good car, so if we can work our way up to the top five, six, I will say I'll be happy."Norris lost control on the exit of Turn Four, his car sliding on to the kerb at Turn Five and flicking into the wall on the exit.He swore and called himself an "idiot" over the radio to his team in the immediate aftermath of the accident."Makes sense," he later said of his frustration in the car. "I agree with it. I should be fighting for pole and, especially on a Q1 lap, not taking any silly risks like I seem to have done."We will review it but it's not a guarantee we would have been on pole, because Red Bull were quick the whole qualifying."It would have been nice to be in that fight. I was doing well until then and feeling comfortable. I shunted, so I am not going to be proud, I'm not going to be happy, I've let myself and the team down and the guys have a big job to do to fix it."Verstappen, eight points behind Norris in the championship, said he was surprised to have been in the fight for pole after a difficult time through the practice sessions, adding that until taking pole he had been "not very confident" for the race."My long runs weren't particularly great compared to Oscar or Lando," he said. "Naturally, with how the car was reacting today, it will be a bit better. But I don't think it'll be enough to be super competitive."But the car definitely took a bit of a step forward compared to what we were testing yesterday. So I hope that will help our tyre life out as well, but difficult to say that gives an opportunity to fight."
Verstappen's pole was his second of the season. After his first, in Japan two weeks ago, he held off Norris and Piastri for the entire grand prix to win.Piastri, though, said the three zones in which the drivers can use the Drag Reduction System overtaking aid might make it easier for him to have a try at passing Verstappen than in Japan.The Australian said: "I'm feeling confident in what we've got. There's a lot of DRS zones around here, which is a nice difference to Suzuka. So, yes, let's see if we can make some progress.Russell said he and Verstappen had agreed that McLaren were still the team to beat."Max and I were just talking now," Russell said. "We both recognise McLaren are the standout favourites and definitely have the pace on everybody else."If Oscar gets into the lead, you'll probably see a repeat of Bahrain. If we stay in the order we qualified, I think it could be a tight race until the pit stops."Russell added that the decision to bring a softer range of tyres for Saudi Arabia this year could also impact the race."The medium tyre this year was last year's soft, which only one driver used in the whole race."We saw the tyres were too hard in Japan. We've all pushed to have softer tyres. Hopefully, it won't make it a slam-dunk one-stop, and there could be a couple of different strategies on the table."
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