F1 | Turkish GP | Norris sure that Hamilton will “be past me in a couple of laps”
Lando Norris will be starting seventh on the grid but he is not optimistic to take his position for long against a hungry Hamilton, who can also count on a super car
Ten position behind on the grid is quite a sentence in Formula 1, unless you are Lewis Hamilton and you are driving a competitive – more than usual – Mercedes. While the Istanbul track seems to be releasing positive feedbacks to both Ferrari and Mercedes, McLaren is struggling, having some difficulties to adapt to the track. Lando Norris is having an hard time to adapt to the circuit as he did state at the beginning of the weekend that it looked different from the last time they raced here.
Nevertheless, he managed to qualify eighth and the penalty to Hamilton will allow him to start seventh, a great occasion to score points and maybe dream for a podium. The McLaren driver is not a dreamer, though, as he predicts to Nathalie Pinkham that he will be able to keep that position only for a couple of laps before Hamilton overcomes him.
“Probably not for long anyway, - the McLaren driver pointed out when she said that he was starting from a great position – because he’ll [Hamilton] be past me in a couple of laps.”
“Well, I’m just realistic, - he smiled – I’m not going to say I’m going to beat him because I’m not. I’m just not a dreamer.”
Good effort, @LandoNorris. 👏
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 9, 2021
Lando qualifies P8 and will start seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s #TurkishGP. 🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/tNcU5MT1k1
The Briton takes an overview not only to the Qualifying but also to the whole Saturday.
“A tough day. We were just not quick enough really, - Norris said, - Not too many things to say, I think. I thought yesterday maybe we had a bit more pace in the bag.”
At this point, he analyses the situation of the car. McLaren is always showing big improvements throughout this season, but not this time, as he felt uneasy in his seat.
“The car was not easy, but we made some changes overnight which we thought would be good for the car and we had a little bit more to unlock, but it seems like the others had even more to unlock than we did. So not a lot [to say]. I think P8 was the best job we could do today. It doesn’t sound very good or feel good, but I have to be happy with that.”
