Arriving in Miami with an important update package for his McLaren, Lando Norris must be eating his hands for the result obtained in the Sprint Race qualifications. Ninth place for him on the grid, despite the best time recorded in SQ2.
Norris disappoints: pole in the Sprint Race was within reach
By finishing free practice at the head of the group, he had effectively made Norris Max Verstappen's main rival at the start of the weekend in Miami.
The first two stages of qualifying were positive for the Briton, who managed to enhance the top speed of his MCL38 with the medium tyre. If in SQ2 he set the best qualifying time, at the crucial moment he made a mistake in turn 1 and other imperfections. Ninth time for him and yet another wasted opportunity.
To the microphones of sky sports f1 after qualifying for the Miami Sprint, Norris made amends, acknowledging his mistakes:
"I pushed too hard. The car gave excellent sensations, but I was a bit silly. I made a mistake in Turn 1 and it was a downward spiral from there. Too bad, because the team did a great job and the updates work. I'm happy with everything, but we weren't able to materialize. I hope to be able to recover in the Sprint, also because the pace seems very good, probably one of the fastest. Too bad about today, but we'll try to do better tomorrow".
