Lando Norris hits back at critics who “make a lot of things up” after F1 Belgian GP pole
“It was nothing to worry about but people like to make a lot of things up… I felt good. The car has been flying all weekend.”
Lando Norris has taken aim at critics who “make a lot of things up” after claiming a commanding pole position for the F1 Belgian Grand Prix.
Norris responded from a lacklustre sprint qualifying session to secure pole for the grand prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
The British driver was nearly six-tenths off F1 teammate Oscar Piastri's pace in sprint qualifying.
However, Norris was the man to beat in main qualifying, taking his first-ever pole in Belgium.
Norris reflected on his lap: “It was a decent lap, of course. Happy. Everyone was pretty worried after yesterday.
“I wasn’t even that far off. It was just a couple of little issues that we had. I was confident after yesterday and confident coming into today so it’s nice to see that I could get back to the top.”
Norris was keen to send a message to his critics.
Despite a significant deficit to Piastri in the sprint segment of the weekend, Norris was never worried.
“Three-tenths is just slipstream and not being first out the pit lane,” Norris explained.
“It was nothing to worry about but people like to make a lot of things up… I felt good. The car has been flying all weekend.
“Oscar’s been doing a good job all weekend. We’re pushing each other a lot like he said. It’s tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are easily.
“You learn from each other quickly. It’s a good, but tough battle that we have at the minute.”
Norris looks ahead to the race
Norris is in fine form, taking back-to-back victories.
It could be a chaotic afternoon with rain scheduled for Sunday’s race.
Still, Norris has a strong record in wet conditions, winning in Australia and Britain earlier this season.
“I’d prefer it to stay dry, honestly,” Norris added.
“Even for the fans. It’s rained here for like the last 10 years or something so it would be nice to have a dry Sunday. I don’t mind whether it’s dry or rain or whatever it is, somewhere in the middle. It’s normal here and I look forward to a fun race.”
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