Lando Norris shocked with P4, targeting Ferrari
Lando Norris shocked with P4, targeting Ferrari. Lando Norris of McLaren insisted that he was "speechless" after becoming the youngest Formula One podium sitter for the third time, finishing third in the last opening Austrian Grand Prix.
McLaren admitted after Friday's practice that racing points were out of his reach, but not only did Norris outplay both, he comfortably defeated Ferrari as well and finished tenth over Red Bull's Max Verstappen in Q3 done.
This is comfortably Norris's best qualifying performance so far, and he, like the rest of us, surpassed the racing point after Sergio Perez worthy P6 and lens stroke P9.
Norris also took a bonus point for putting in the fastest time of the race - which he saw on the final lap.
As his garage and pit team went wild, Norris could be heard loud and clear on the radio.
“We had our expectations of where we thought we want to be, and from the very beginning the Racing Points have been extremely quick,” he told Sky F1.
“We never thought we would be in with a chance of beating them, or getting close to them, but in qualifying the car started to come alive and I felt much better.
This track was really good for us last year, we had confidence in the car and it suits us, so hopefully tomorrow race is good.We have two weeks of this, so hopefully we can repeat ourselves.
Moving on to the race, Norris says he will be seen ahead of both Verstappen and Mercedes.But for those at the back, while he is eyeing the racing point, he hopes Ferrari will be the biggest threat.Scuderia was narrowly speaking at least in qualifying with Charles Leclerc claiming P7 on the grid, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel starts all the way to the P11.
Asked whether the racing speed of the racing point worried Norris, he said: They were definitely faster than us on Friday, which is why we were not expecting this at all.I take it 100% for now, but as much as Im looking ahead in the race and trying to get ahead, I think Ferrari has a lot of [fast] cars behind them, especially, their race speed. is very strong.
Speaking to Jenson Button later, he said: "Ahhhhh I'm speechless!
"There's a few moments where I thought I fudged it. I dropped to fifth with a few laps to go and Carlos nearly passed me and I managed to get back past Checo and I ended up on the podium.
“For some reason their quali pace is a long way off, but so is Racing Point’s.“They have a good car, a lot of downforce, I think they can look after their tyres slightly better than us.
“It’s going to be a difficult job but if I can stay around Ferrari then I will be happy.“The car feels nice, I have good confidence, it’s our best position for many years in qualifying, but the race is another story.”
