Lando Norris was left feeling “happy and confident” about his prospects for the Hungarian Grand Prix after taking pole position in an eventful qualifying session, with the McLaren driver beating team mate Oscar Piastri by just 0.022s.
Having set an impressive provisional pole lap of 1m 15.227s during the first runs of Q3, the final segment of qualifying was interrupted when Yuki Tsunoda suffered a crash in the RB. When it was resumed with just over two minutes left on the clock – amid changing weather conditions – most of the field were unable to improve and Norris remained on top.
Reflecting on the outcome afterwards, Norris commented: “[I’m ] very, very happy. Not an easy qualifying, difficult conditions, but always ending up on top is the best part of it also. Happy, especially for the team, a one-two is even better to see, so congrats to the team.”
Asked if the result had given the team an increased confidence heading into Sunday, the Briton answered: “It does, but we’ve already got confidence so it’s not like we need a lot more of it, or we’re searching for it.
“We’ve come into this weekend and the last few happy and confident we can do a good job, and we’ve got a good car to fight for pole and that’s exactly what we did today. So, like I said, a great job by the team; we’ve been improving every weekend, so to end up on pole today is sweet.”
Norris was bullish about the squad’s potential race pace, adding: “I mean, we’re in the best position for whatever the conditions throw at us so I’m looking forward to it – two cars on the front row, we can control it from there so as long as we stay where we are, we’ll be happy.”
And when pushed on whether he is aiming to win, Norris stated: “I mean, I’m expecting to, so if I don’t, it’s not been a good day. The car’s doing well, I feel like I’m driving well, so it’s obvious what the aim is for tomorrow.”
Piastri was similarly pleased with McLaren’s performance, but acknowledged that there was a bit of disappointment at being so close to pole himself.
“It’s cool to be here, especially when you get a result like this,” the Australian explained. “I think the first one-two in qualifying for McLaren for a very long time, so very happy. Of course when I missed out by two hundredths, you think of all the little things you can do a bit better.
“But no, an amazing result for the team. We had a bit of a tricky day on my side yesterday, so it was nice to bounce back this morning, and then obviously this afternoon in quali. It wasn’t easy, a lot of decisions on the fly and to end up with both cars on the front row is an amazing result.”
On whether he could have done anything differently after that incredibly close lap, Piastri responded: “Not really. The first lap yes, but the second lap honestly was pretty good – I’ve already seen where I was a little bit slower, and then you think I could have done this a bit better, that a bit better but no, still a good lap, I’m happy with my day’s work.
“It’s a long run down to Turn 1, so everything is still to play for tomorrow, and a lot of points are on the table.”
While the 23-year-old is hoping to put himself into P1 come race day, he has also stressed that – with the constructors’ championship potentially at stake – neither he or Norris will do anything silly.
“Of course, I want to get into the lead but we have both cars on the front row, we’ve got a big task ahead of us trying to win this championship as a team and we’ll be smart,” Piastri added.
“We’ve got a very quick car, it’s been working extremely well this weekend. We want to keep it one-two, and I think we’ll fight amongst ourselves for who gets one.”
