2 weeks Ago
While addressing the media, Norris, the current F1 leader, remained irked about his 'silly risk' as he lambasted himself for the error that ultimately landed him in P10. McLaren’s Lando Norris was no fan of his outing on Saturday, calling himself an idiot after crashing in Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying, and sticking by his self-criticism later on. Norris started off strong in the opening two Qualifying segments, finishing second in the former and topping the latter by 0.
048s from Max Verstappen under the floodlights. But while Piastri provisionally went fastest in Q3, Norris tagged the curb on the exit of Turn 4, unsettling the car, which sent him to the outside and into the barrier, crashing and dismantling the left front tyre of his car. Having confirmed he was “okay" over the radio, Norris followed it up with “idiot" as the session was placed under a red flag, with Max Verstappen eventually taking a record-setting pole from Piastri at the chequered flag.
Later, while addressing the media, Norris, the current F1 leader, remained irked about his ‘silly risk’ as he lambasted himself for the error that ultimately landed him in P10. “Makes sense. I agree with it.
Should be fighting for pole," the unhurt driver said after qualifying 10th at Jeddah’s Corniche circuit. “I shunted so I’m not going to be proud, I’m not going to be happy. I have let myself down and let the team down," said Norris, blaming himself for “silly risks" he did not need to take.
“I don’t know what happened. I need to look into it all. Just a mistake I guess, I was pretty comfortable and happy until then," he added.
“It has made my life and everyone in the team’s much harder because everyone has a big job to try and fix everything." Norris’ crash underlines another difficult weekend that has placed the McLaren driver under further scrutiny, having only qualified sixth in Bahrain before making a starting procedure error that led to a five-second penalty before eventually salvaging third. The F1 championship race also continues to heat up as Norris’s teammate Piastri remains hot on his trail with 74 points, just three points lower than the Briton, while defending champion Verstappen sits at third with 69 points.
.
