Tag: lando-norris

F1 Saudi Arabia Qualifying Review Part 1

Verstappen back on top in Qualifying After struggling throughout last weekend’s race in Bahrain, Bed Bull’s Max Verstappen demonstrated that he is a genuine contender here in Saudi. After finishing sixth in Bahrain Verstappen will start tomorrow’s race in pole position. Verstappen finished fastest in each part of qualifying.

During his press conference after qualifying Verstappen spoke about his result.

“I definitely didn’t expect to be on pole her after FP3 as well and looking at whole weekend was. But yeah, the car came alive in the night. We made some changes and it was a lot more enjoyable to drive. “

“I think tomorrow in the race it will be tough to keep them behind, but where going to give it a good go.”

All four races this season have been won by the driver on pole position.

Piastri the biggest threat? McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is one of the in formed driver in Formula 1. He has won two of the last three races in China and Bahrain and finished third in Japan. Throughout the race in Japan he was quicker than his teammate Lando Norris who finished in second. He continued that fine form in qualifying putting the car on the front row.

In an interview after qualifying Piastri spoke about his chances in the race.

“I’m feeling confident in what we’ve got. There’s a lot of DRS zones around here which is a nice difference to Suzuka. So yeah, let’s see if we can make some progress.”

Piastri sits in second position in the championship three points behind Norris.

Norris has it all to to do in the race tomorrow. McLaren’s Lando Norris leads the world championship but it hasn’t all gone to plan for the Englishman. In the last race in Bahrain Norris only qualified his car in sixth and had difficulties throughout the race but finished on the podium after passing Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the final laps.

Here in Saudi Arabia Norris was impressive in the three free practice sessions, finishing quickest in two of the three. It all came undone for Norris in Q3 (third part of qualifying) when he hit the kerb on the exit to turn 4, crashing into the barrier on the opposite side of the track. Norris hadn’t recorded a time in Q3 before his crash and will start the race in tenth.

Speaking with F1.com after qualifying Norris said he was disappointed but determined for the race tomorrow.

“It’s been such a smooth, positive weekend so far, so we’re disappointed to have such a big setback but I’ve got to take it on the chin. I apoligised to the team, to my mechanics and the engineers and try and go again tomorrow.”

Russel continues his impressive form. Mercedes’s George Russell has been underrated in the F1 garage in 2025. Norris, Piastri and Verstappen have been getting the plaudits this season but the British driver has been consistent in the first four races. He has finished on the podium in three of the races and sits in fourth in the championship, only 14 points behind Norris who leads the championship. He qualified for tomorrow’s race in third position.

Belgium F1 Grand Prix

The McLaren is quick, really quick.

McLaren are having an impressive season. They sit second in the constructor’s championship, both their drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have won races this year and they continually finish on the podium.

It was another podium finish at the Belgium Grand Prix with Piastri finishing second after the disqualification of Russell.

After 32 laps Piastri sat in fourth spot and over three seconds behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. In three laps he was half a second behind the ferrari and the next lap he passed the Leclerc with ease.

With eight laps left Piastri was four and half seconds behind Mercedes Lewis Hamilton in second and by the end of the race it was less than a second.

Piastri was interviewed after the race about the result.

“I’m happy with the result. I think we managed the race very well and I don’t think we could have have done much more today. We did a lot of things right and gave ourselves the best opportunities. But in the end, it wasn’t quite enough” he said.

Norris’s race was ruined on the first corner going onto the gravel and losing three positions on the grid. He went from fourth to seventh. Norris did show genuine pace throughout the race and passed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. He was within a second of Perez’s teammate Max Verstappen for the last eight laps of the race. Norris finished the race in fifth.

Lando spoke about his first lap mishap.

” A disappointing race today. I think we managed the race and it cost me a good position on the grid which was difficult to recover with the lack of overtaking opportunities.”

McLaren’s Team Principal Andrea Stella said it has been a positive start to the season.

“Overall a very strong part of the season for McLaren. We are even closer to the top of the constructor’s championship and we look forward to the second part of the season.”