McLaren’s Lando Norris says he is “quite disappointed and upset with me” after losing his best Formula 1 qualifying result for exceeding the track limits at Imola.
Norris had shown impressive speed during qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and briefly sat second in the Q3 table before his fastest lap time was canceled due to a track restriction violation at Turn 9.
It was a bitter blow for the Briton who would have finished third on the grid without a mistake behind pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and between the Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
Instead, he will start the race in seventh behind McLaren teammates Daniel Ricciardo, AlphaTauris Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
“Yeah, pretty disappointed, pretty upset with me,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“I think it was a very good day until then, the team did a great job. You know, the car really came to life in qualifying.
“We made a lot of improvements on Friday, but in that one lap where I don’t have to make any mistakes, I improved everything.”
On the subject of matching items
“It’s the same for everyone so at the end of the day it’s my fault.”
Norris praised the progress McLaren made over the weekend after appearing to be struggling for pace compared to his midfield rivals on Friday.
“I’m really happy – not with my work, but with the team,” he said.
“I think we didn’t start the weekend well at all. We had big problems at the beginning, but we made a lot of improvements.
“And I think we understood a bit more about how the car works and how it comes to life, and a better control window.
On the subject of matching items
“That’s one of the things we had to learn from Bahrain where we had problems. We changed it this weekend and we did a better job, only I didn’t.”
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