Lando Norris was disappointed not to beat his teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri to pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix after making a mistake on his final qualifying lap.
Norris will start the race in second place behind Piastri after aborting his final lap as he started to run wide in Turn 2.
Victory in Sunday’s race would secure Norris his first world title regardless of where his rivals finish, but if he crosses the finish line behind Piastri, the championship battle will go down to the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Norris said his error was all the more frustrating knowing that he had improved his performance following sprint qualifying on Friday evening.
Lando Norris starts on the second row for the sixth time this season. Mario Renzi – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images
“[I’m] pretty disappointed,” he told Sky Sports. “Yesterday [in sprint qualifying] I didn’t feel like I had the pace for pole but today I felt a lot more comfortable.
“I was convinced I would have been on pole but I’m not now, so pretty disappointed with myself because of that, especially as my qualis lately have been pretty strong.
“I guess I can’t always be great and always be on pole, but a missed opportunity today from my side,” Norris continued. “But the focus is on tomorrow.”
Qatar Grand Prix qualifying top 10
Piastri took his sixth pole of the season (and career), and first since the Dutch GP in August
DriverTeamTimes1 – Oscar PiastriMcLaren1:19.3872 – Lando NorrisMcLaren+0.1083 – Max VerstappenRed Bull+0.2644 – George RussellMercedes+0.2755 – Kimi AntonelliMercedes+0.4596 – Isack HadjarRacing Bulls+0.7277 – Carlos SainzWilliams+0.9008 – Fernando AlonsoAston Martin+1.0319 – Pierre GaslyAlpine+1.09010 – Charles LeclercFerrari+1.174
After the top three drivers finished Saturday’s sprint race where they started, Norris said he was not optimistic about his chances of overtaking Piastri on Sunday.
“I’m second, so there’s not a lot of chance for me to win at the minute,” he said. “But yeah, I just focus on trying to get a good start.
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“There’s a long run down to turn one is a good opportunity for anyone to gain or lose positions.
“Otherwise, apart from that, I think it’s going to be a pretty boring and straightforward race.”
Asked how he would sleep knowing he has a shot at securing his first F1 title on Sunday, Norris joked: “Hopefully bad, because normally usually the worse I sleep the better I do!”
