Lando Norris thinks that McLaren’s performance during Saturday’s qualifying in Miami is representative of where the British team currently stands in the rankings. According to the driver, the sprint victory earlier in the day was more the exception than the rule. ‘I don’t have much to complain about because of that,’ says the world champion about his fourth starting position.
Read more Russell is annoyed by mistake during Miami qualifying: ‘I was about three tenths ahead’
While Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli fought for pole position until the last seconds of qualifying, McLaren was not in the running. Lando Norris could not improve his time during his last flying lap and had to settle for fourth on the grid.
‘Where we belong’
“I think we still did well,” he told the media present afterwards. “I think other teams just did very poorly on Friday (during the sprint qualifying, ed.). Today they just did what they had to do. I don’t have much to complain about because of that. It was definitely a bit more difficult with the car on Saturday due to the wind and temperatures. The conditions were just a bit different and the others just did what they had to do. Honestly, I think McLaren is where we belong.”
Read more Starting lineup GP Miami: Max Verstappen smells blood on the front row
According to Norris, the good performances during the sprint race – the two McLarens finished first and second in Miami – were more the exception than the rule. “I don’t think people have given us enough credit for how well we did on Friday compared to the others; they were clearly faster and that’s why I was very, very satisfied with the performances during the sprint qualifying and the sprint,” he explains. “We gave it our all and I already said earlier that it was a neck-and-neck race with the Mercedes cars.”
Read more Verstappen judges F1 rule changes: ‘We really still need to get rid of that’
Read everything about the GP Miami here
