Lando Norris, British driver of McLaren in car MCL38. May 3, 2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Round 6, Miami Grand Prix, Miami, Florida, USA, Sprint Qualifying Day.
McLaren Formula 1 CEO Zak Brown attributed the team’s difficulties in the Sprint Qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix to tires that were not in the ideal operating window.
During the early stages, Lando Norris seemed to have a shot at pole position, but a messy first sector on his only lap in Q3 cost him dearly. Despite matching Max Verstappen’s pace in the final two sectors, Norris ended up in ninth place overall, 0.831s behind.
Norris, who has been critical of his performance on a single lap over the past year, admitted that pushing too hard to find more time on the Soft tires was his downfall.
“I just pushed too hard, that’s all,” he acknowledged. “The car was feeling really good.
“Yeah, just silly mistakes, to be honest. I made a few errors in Turn 1 and that compounded.
“It’s a shame because the team did a good job. The upgrades are working. So I’m happy with everything, just not one thing.”
However, Brown defended Norris and said that teammate Oscar Piastri also struggled with tire temperatures at the start of his lap.
“We couldn’t get the Soft tires to work on either car, so we’ll have to look at how we brought them in on that final lap,” Brown revealed.
“I don’t think either driver felt like they nailed it, but our preparation for the final run wasn’t good enough.
“So it’s a bit disappointing considering Q1 and Q2, but I believe we’ll qualify better tomorrow and have a good race ahead.”
Norris remains hopeful that he can recover and fight for a good result in the Sprint race tomorrow, given his potential shown in the updated McLaren MCL38.
When asked if his previous times gave him confidence for the rest of the weekend, Norris replied: “I hope so, I mean, the pace is very good.
“Probably one of the fastest, so yes, today was disappointing, but I will give my best tomorrow.”
