Norris would be “happy” to have a clean race after a series of missed chances to win · RaceFans

After his pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lando Norris wants to put an end to a series of missed chances to win.

The McLaren driver took his first Grand Prix victory two months ago in Miami and has since come close to winning several more races, including in Imola, Montreal, the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone.

Although he downplayed the significance of today’s race win, Norris admitted he is keen to put in a flawless run to maximise his chances of success.

“Every single qualifying is important, every race is important, so I don’t have to suddenly make it and prove my point,” he said after yesterday’s qualifying. “I don’t have to. We did our best in every race.”

“I think we showed great pace and great opportunities. I know we missed some, we don’t need to get into all that again. But I would like to have a clean, strong weekend.

“Yesterday we were very strong at the beginning of FP2, FP3 and now in qualifying. So it would be nice if we had a nice first corner and then see what happens.”

With his teammate Oscar Piastri starting alongside him and Max Verstappen in third, Norris said he was not expecting “an easy race”. “I still expect a difficult race with Oscar and Max behind me.”

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“But every single point is important. We try to maximize every place and every point every time. The more we can try to get close to Max, the more we as a team can overtake Red Bull and other constructors, the better.”

“So there’s no point or meaning in trying to beat anyone or anything in particular. It’s just about going out there and doing what we do because we do a good job.”

Despite taking pole position for the third time in a Grand Prix, Norris felt his qualifying could have gone better. He said he used up his fresh soft tyres too quickly at the start of qualifying, leaving him with just one fresh set for Q3.

“We lost it in Q2 just because my first lap with the used tyre wasn’t good enough,” he said. “At the end of Q1 I did almost three quarters of a lap with a new tyre, so I’d probably say we messed it up there.”

“I think that was a bit silly. We went out with a new tyre at the end of Q1 just to be sure. But we were still safe so we went into the pits. I did almost a whole lap with a new tyre, which meant that my lap in Q2, with a used (tyre) almost the whole lap, was never going to be fantastic compared to others with a new tyre. That meant I had to put another set of new tyres on for Q2 run two and that’s where I lost it.

“After everything that happened and looking back, I would say I’m not going to complain about it, but I should have had two sets before Q3. Obviously it worked out. But if for some reason it didn’t work out and I made a mistake on my first lap, I would have been a little bit more unhappy not having two sets for Q3. So that’s something we’ll look at again.”

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Hungarian Grand Prix 2024

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