Lando Norris laments “too many mistakes” fighting for F1 Spanish GP pole

Lando Norris has said “too many mistakes” cost him on his final qualifying lap at the Spanish Grand Prix, which contributed to him losing pole position to McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Oscar Piastri.

The Briton was on provisional pole after the first Q3 runs, heading Piastri by 0.017s, only to see the Australian usurp top spot with a 1m11.546s – beating Norris’s 1m11.755s on his final run.

Norris felt he made two key mistakes on his last Q3 tour, which created “not the cleanest lap” and lost him vital time causing Piastri to take pole by 0.209s.

“Just a couple little mistakes. Turn 1 – which is kind of the first place you don’t want to make a mistake, just because it harms the rest of the lap with the tyres and things,” said Norris, who is second to Piastri in the championship. “So just a couple of little squiggles there and the exit of Turn 4 as well.

“So just not a perfect lap, not the cleanest lap, but still improved, surprisingly. The pace was easily there. Just a couple too many mistakes.”

He added: “We’ve been good in all conditions so far. It’s obviously very hot. So, like Oscar said, just a bit of a struggle for everyone. It’s a struggle in quali to look after the tyres for one lap, so the race is then much trickier.

Pole sitter Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

“But the car has been good the whole weekend, as you’ve shown today. So yeah, that’s always reassuring before Sunday.”

During last weekend’s Monaco GP, where Norris claimed pole to set up a breakthrough victory, he opened up on work he’s undertaken to extract more qualifying speed from the McLaren F1 car in the vital qualifying laps.

Norris remained positive with his Spanish GP qualifying positive despite missing out on pole as he felt the progress was still evident.

“The speed was easily there today. And sometimes you just don’t put the laps in. Today was good,” he explained.

“I think I was a little bit behind at the start of qualifying and I caught up nicely. I know where I lost that time on the final lap. It was just trying a little bit too much and just not being quite tidy enough – especially around a lap like Barcelona.

“One little oversteer in Turn 1, Turn 2, you kind of already know it’s going to be a tricky rest of the lap. So, it’s still good.

“I still feel fine. I’m happy with second, especially in Barcelona – it’s not the end of the world. So, a positive weekend.”