Norris rues latest mistakes in Chinese GP qualifying

Lando Norris is leading the Formula 1 drivers’ championship for the first time in his career after his victory in Australia – but given he has now made a trio of mistakes in China it seems as though this new pressure is something he is yet to come to terms with.

McLaren clearly has the fastest car this season, as proved by Oscar Piastri taking his first-ever grand prix pole for Sunday’s race in Shanghai, where the Australian will be joined on the front row of the grid by the Merecedes of George Russell.

Norris will start third – not bad all things considered, but it was another missed opportunity for the Briton this weekend.

Never make the same mistake twice is sage advice for anyone; Norris, however, has admitted to errors in sprint qualifying, the sprint race itself and now qualifying for the grand prix.

Another opportunity to recover ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix came and went after another fault at the business end of a session.

Norris had topped the timesheets in both Q1 and Q2 but, mirroring his sprint qualifying effort, he aborted his final flying lap and had to settle for a spot on the second row.

“I’m always disappointed if I’m not on pole but Oscar deserves it today, he’s done a very good job all weekend so I’m happy for him – his first pole in Formula 1,” Norris said right after qualifying third.

“Just a couple of mistakes again, kind of been my case this weekend but the car is feeling a bit better today.

“I’ve got a lot more comfortable with the car, so a step in the right direction, especially from yesterday where I was struggling a lot and even this morning I was struggling a lot.

“A much better direction that we’re going in so, yeah, not too disappointed. It’s quick enough, we never doubted that it is the quickest car. It can just be a little bit feisty at times, but it is not so much that: today was just mistakes from my side, and that’s all.”

Norris candidly expanded on his troubles in the post-qualifying press conference.

“Still too many mistakes from my side and not as comfortable as I was in Australia,” he added. “Just tricky, but it is for everyone. I just haven’t done the best job and Oscar has done a very good job. Still a good result. I’m still happy with P3.

“Oscar has shown great pace. I definitely haven’t, especially from the race pace and whenever we struggle with front graining, it’s something I struggle with a lot. It’s difficult for me. It’s been a difficult weekend just trying to deal with those things.

“It’s something I’m not strong enough in. I’ve got a long night ahead of me to sit down and go through all the data and see what I can improve for tomorrow.”

While he might not be disappointed after a tough Saturday, Norris will know he needs to cut out the mistakes if he is to leave China still sitting top of the early championship standings.