Lando Norris takes cheeky dig at Jolyon Palmer over luck claim

Lando Norris fired a playful jab at Jolyon Palmer after qualifying second for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Ahead of the resumption of the season in Zandvoort, ex-Renault F1 driver Palmer claimed Oscar Piastri would have a 61-point lead in the standings had Norris not been lucky in the first half of the campaign.

Norris had already responded to Palmer’s comments on Friday, saying his results are down to hard work and how he has improved as a driver over the years.

But the two Brits faced each other directly on Saturday, with Palmer conducting the post-qualifying interviews with the top three drivers for the official F1 feed.

Norris joked about “all the luck I have been having” this year in what appeared to be a direct and cheeky dig at Palmer’s earlier remarks.

“With the wind like this, a lot of it is down to luck as well - even with all the luck I have been having,” he said with a smile on his face.

“So, it's tough. I had a good lap, like Q3 run one, but it was a small headwind down the straight and I lost like one hundredth. You can easily say it's there.”

Despite topping all three practice sessions in the build-up to qualifying, Norris couldn’t take pole position in qualifying, missing out on the top spot by just 0.012s to his McLaren teammate Piastri.

Asked if he was frustrated with the result, Norris said: “Yes and no. It's been close. It's been close the whole weekend, so easily it could go one way or the other. 

“I guess a little bit disappointed I'm not on pole. It's close but still some decent laps. So not the end of the world either.”

Norris qualified on pole position at Zandvoort last year but a poor start left him second behind home hero, Max Verstappen.

However, he quickly passed the Red Bull driver before the end of the first stint and eventually took victory by over 20s.

Asked about his prospects for the race, Norris said: “We [Piastri and I] both had terrible starts last year. 

“I don't think the inside [line] is a lot better. It's a long race. It's a lot of laps, and we will see what the weather holds for us too.”