AUSTIN — Coming into the United States Grand Prix, the talk around the Formula 1 world focused on McLaren. With the Woking-based team taking the Constructors’ Championship lead with Oscar Piastri’s win in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, would they be able to hold off Red Bull and Ferrari down the stretch? With McLaren extending that lead thanks to Lando Norris’ dominant win in the Singapore Grand Prix, could he chase down Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship?
Their week in Austin, however, did not get off to a strong start. But when they might have needed it most, Norris delivered what he called a “beautiful lap” to seize pole position for Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.
“It was a beautiful lap,” began Norris trackside to James Hinchcliffe following qualifying. “I was not going to go much quicker than what I did. You know when you just do a lap, well you know… When you just do a lap and you think, ‘damn, it’s going to be tough to beat that’. But I put everything out on the line. And it’s what we needed to do.
“We’ve been on the back foot pretty much the whole weekend. We’ve not had the pace of the Ferraris or the Red Bulls,” continued Norris. “So I had to do something. And today, I did that. So yeah, a cool lap and a nice way to start the race tomorrow.”
In the FIA Press Conference moments later, Norris went on to call his lap in Q3 the best of his career.
“It was the best of probably my career, I think. Yeah, it was just a very nice lap. I kind of set the bar too high because on my second lap, I was like, ‘guys, I don’t think I’m going to improve much here’. So yeah, I mean, I got everything out of the car,” explained Norris. “We changed a good amount from the Sprint race into quali today now and definitely took a step forward. But man, I was still struggling a lot. So I just knew I had to risk a little bit more and give it that little extra. And it just came together perfectly. But it was definitely not a lap I could have repeated. So I’m very happy because I really wasn’t expecting to be here today.”
Starting alongside him will be Verstappen, who might have been on his way towards capturing pole position himself, when a crash by George Russell brought the session to an end.
“So I knew that the second lap, you know, there was time to find, for free, but never really got to that corner. So, I mean, that happens, you know, in qualifying, it’s not always in your control,” said Verstappen. “I think in general, though, for us, this whole weekend so far has been a lot more positive. We could at least fight for pole and that has been a while.”
But the story here in Austin Saturday evening — beyond of course the Texas-Georgia game — was Norris’ “beautiful lap,” which came at a time the team needed it most. McLaren banked only six points in the F1 Sprint Race, thanks to a P3 from Norris. That result, when combined with Verstappen’s win, saw Red Bull inch two points closer to McLaren.
It also meant Verstappen pulled two points further away from Norris in the Drivers’ Championship.
Now Norris has the advantage headed into Sunday when the big points are on offer.
However, the biggest piece of the puzzle remaining might be tire wear, which seemed to hamper Norris in the F1 Sprint Race. The McLaren driver got out to a quick start, picking up two positions through the first few turns Saturday to slide into second behind Verstappen. But he ultimately finished third, and admitted after the Sprint Race that his tires were gone by the end.
Norris will do his homework tonight, and he hopes that will pay off in what he believes will be a “tough” United States Grand Prix.
“I mean, I’ll do my homework. We already made some changes to hopefully improve that direction,” added Norris. “But time will tell. So we’ll work hard. We’ve done a good job so far. Box number one ticked.
“But tomorrow’s going to be a tough race.”
