When Charles Leclerc couldn’t beat Max Verstappen’s Q3 lap in qualifying for the 2023 Formula 1 race at Silverstone, everything looked like a safe bet for the world champion, but suddenly big cheers erupted in the stands as local hero Lando Norris surprisingly took first place – 0.123 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
But the McLaren driver was not granted pole position because Verstappen was able to counter again and prevailed quite comfortably with a lead of 0.241 seconds. For Norris it was enough for the front row. And even better for McLaren: Oscar Piastri is right behind on starting position three.
“I’m a little surprised. I didn’t expect to be here,” laughs Norris after his best qualifying since Sochi 2021. But the placement didn’t come as a surprise, after all Norris finished Q1 first, Q2 third.
After crossing the finish line first, he looked for the trackside TV monitors to see the result. “I tried to look at all kinds of things,” he says. “It just depended on when Max would come over the line.”
But even though he was beaten by the Dutchman, Norris is very happy with the result because “it was more about whether Max made a mistake than whether we were faster,” he says.
“Get it right when it mattered”
But Verstappen didn’t make a mistake, so it was “only” enough for Norris to finish second. But he says: “I managed a good lap without making any mistakes, much cleaner than my first run in Q3. It was a good qualifying.”
Even before qualifying, McLaren had expected both cars to be in Q3. The update to Norris’ car worked well in Spielberg and Piastri also got the updates to the car in the UK. But of course the team knew that mixed conditions are always difficult to predict.
The fact that Sergio Perez would be kicked out in Q1 was not on the screen despite his bad phase. And Lance Stroll’s exit in Q2 was also quite surprising. “A few faster cars got kicked out early, and that opens up a few opportunities for us,” says Norris, who didn’t necessarily believe in the really big coup.
“My Friday wasn’t great, FT3 was a bit difficult with the conditions. I didn’t have the greatest confidence but I did it when it mattered,” he says. “I’m happy with that.”
Oscar Piastri finally in top 3 again
For team-mate Oscar Piastri, third place was of course the best qualifying in his more recent Formula 1 career. “It’s been a few years since I was at a press conference like this,” laughs the former Formula 2 champion, who last drove for top positions in the junior series in 2021. “It’s nice to be back.”
“We thought we could at least finish in the top 10 but if the conditions are like today then it’s been pretty solid for us so far,” he says. “We were confident that we could do something special and we did it. I’m happy with my lap. It couldn’t have been much better. I’m happy to be in the top 3.”
But he doesn’t see that it’s particularly difficult for him as a rookie under such conditions: “It’s always difficult. I think we’ve had four such sessions this year, so we’ve all had good practice in it,” he says Australian.
Result brings self-confidence
“Most riders like those conditions. Getting it right is difficult. You have to find the grip on the track. Sometimes you couldn’t see where the grip was. You just had to pray that you were on a dry piece of track.” he describes.
But: “I like such conditions. When it comes to qualifying, nine times out of ten we do a very good job. You have to give the team respect for their decisions – and also for the car. It worked very well today.”
He admits this result is “just a huge confidence boost” for him. “Regardless of the result, I managed a good lap. I’ve made a couple of mistakes in Q3s this year, so it’s nice to have a solid lap. And being good enough for third place is even better.” piastri.
“It’s just nice to be able to fight for much better positions now. There are only two positions left today, but I’ll keep pushing. There are still things I need to work on. I still have to figure out a few things in the races , but that will come with time. That’s a big focus, but right now I’m very happy to be third here.”
Can McLaren keep the pace in the race?
Now it is up to McLaren to save the good qualifying result for the race as well, because that has not necessarily been the strength of the MCL60 so far. Although Norris was able to keep his fourth place on the grid in Spielberg, the Briton dropped from third on the grid to 17th in Barcelona.
“We’re not talking about Barcelona anymore,” Norris dismisses. “Austria is a completely different circuit than here, but we were extremely strong there in qualifying and were able to hold on reasonably well in the race.”
“I want to be hopeful,” he adds. “I don’t usually go into a Sunday with a lot of hope like this year has gone. But I have a few reasons to believe in it and a bit of hope after the pace today.”
“If we see how we were on Friday, then we can have a good race tomorrow. It’s probably not enough to beat this one,” he points to Max Verstappen, “but hopefully it’s enough to win a top To be able to fight for 5th place.”
For Piastri, the number one goal is “to stay in the points,” as he says. “We have to see what our race pace looks like. Lando showed last weekend that we can keep up better in the race now. Hopefully we can try to do the same tomorrow,” he says.
“Staying in the top three will be difficult because there are some fast cars behind us, but definitely a solid result in the points is possible.”