Lando Norris is determined to seize the “opportunity” presented by his second career F1 pole position at Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix after Max Verstappen said Red Bull’s dominance was now “completely gone”.
Norris will start from pole position ahead of championship leader Verstappen after setting what he described as the best lap of his career in a blistering finish to qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday.
The Briton, who won his first Grand Prix in Miami last month, has finished in the top two in three of the last four events and starts at the front of the grid on a Sunday for the first time in almost three years.
And although aware that the Barcelona pole-sitter may be vulnerable to attack due to the long run to the first corner, Norris is excited about what will happen in a 66-lap race that he believes any of the four leading teams getting tighter and tighter could but win.
“It’s probably one of the places where you don’t want to start on pole, but it’s an opportunity for us to go out and try to win a race, you know.
“We didn’t do a lot of long runs. We did a little bit and I think we were close, as it always has been.
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On board Lando Norris’ pole lap at the Spanish Grand Prix
“I think tomorrow it’s not like this car is much faster. I think between Mercedes, ourselves, Red Bull, Ferrari, there are eight cars that probably could have been on pole today today and who probably have a chance of winning the race.”
“So it’s about making as few mistakes as possible, like today, and just trying to run another good race that we usually do.”
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Norris added: “The race pace between everyone is extremely tight. I think it will be interesting to see tomorrow what happens in laps 10 to 20.”
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Zak Brown said Lando Norris’ pole lap was ‘fantastic’ after McLaren suffered camper fire ahead of P3
Max: Red Bull dominance ‘completely gone’ – but ‘excited’ for victory
While Verstappen may have missed out on pole by a razor-thin margin of just 0.020 seconds, Red Bull’s turnaround in fortunes over 12 months at the fast and flowing Spanish circuit was still striking.
In last year’s race, Verstappen took pole by almost half a second. He then won on Sunday by almost half a minute.
Red Bull had made more improvements to its 2024 car this weekend, unlike McLaren, and Verstappen said of the RB20’s pace: “I think it went well, but not well enough, clearly .”
“On these kinds of tracks, I of course hoped to be in the lead. But the other teams are catching up. We’ve already seen it in the last races, so it’s definitely a lot more difficult. We have to do everything perfectly. to be first. We just need to bring more performance to the car.”
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Highlights from qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix
He then added more bluntly: “We have to keep going. We have to bring in parts faster, better quality. I mean, we had a very dominant car last year. It’s very, like… I I mean, she completely disappeared, naturally.” .
“And yeah, we just really need to try to take a step forward.”
Not that the disappearance of their two-season advantage means the Dutchman – who beat Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell to win in Canada despite not having the fastest car of the weekend – is far from to be in the equation to claim a seventh victory of the campaign and extend their lead to 56 points in the championship.
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A look back at some of the most dramatic moments from previous races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
“I think it’s going to be exciting to see how we perform against them in terms of race pace,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“When I look at my race pace I think it’s ok but nothing special compared to Mercedes or McLaren, Ferrari.
“I felt good, but I didn’t really feel like there was a very strong rhythm compared to the others.
“I’m also trying to refine our balance.
“So I think what we did before qualifying will help for (the race). I felt a little slow in qualifying with the wing we had, it was quite big, but hopefully it will help a little (the race).
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George Russell was unhappy with teammate Lewis Hamilton’s pace in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix
Can Hamilton and Russell work together?
On the second row, Lewis Hamilton and Russell line up alongside the two Mercedes drivers, knowing that it could be important to be in front of the other to gain strategic priority.
It’s a long race to the first corner, so the Mercedes pair will be in the slipstream of Norris and Verstappen, with the two Ferraris close behind for good measure.
Their long run pace throughout practice has been competitive and Russell is optimistic about their ability to challenge for victory.
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Lewis Hamilton reflects on successful qualifying session after securing P3 at the Spanish Grand Prix
“I think strategically, regarding tire degradation, you can do some things with strategy, but if you have a tenth of pace in the car it will always trump strategy,” Russell told Sky Sports F1 .
“Of course we will try something but we hope to have the rhythm to fight with Max and Lando.
“I think we have the pace to fight with Max and Lando for the win.”
Hamilton and Russell collided at the start of last year’s Qatar Grand Prix when both drivers sniffed a potential chance of victory.
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Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell collide on the first lap of the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
They were free to race last time in Canada, with Russell leading the way, but they may have to work together to have any chance of outsmarting McLaren and Red Bull.
“I think it would be very difficult. I think those two (Norris and Verstappen) will be very fast, but position is everything,” Hamilton said.
“There are also two of us, so hopefully we can apply pressure as a team on the two cars in front to maybe play something strategic and climb slowly.”
“I think it’s all about degradation and how you take care of the tires, so we won’t know until we get into that first run.”
Multiple pit stops to cause strategic chaos
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is one of the most demanding circuits on tires due to its long and fast corners.
Most riders opted for a double-stop last year, with a mix of softs, mediums and hards.
A key difference will be that rain is expected overnight, so the track will be ‘green’ and any deposited rubber will be washed away, which will, in theory, increase tire degradation.
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Lando Norris analyzes his pole lap alongside Anthony Davidson at the Spanish Grand Prix
Temperatures will also be cooler than so far, which will also affect tire performance.
Normally the top 10 drivers start with the mediums, but the soft tires have held up well and that extra grip on the line to gain track position may tempt some top drivers to start with the softs.
Both Ferrari drivers kept a new set of softs for the race, so Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, fifth and sixth, will have this map to use at some point.
The undercut is very powerful and a key number to remember is that you lose approximately 23 seconds during a pit stop in green flag conditions.
There hasn’t been a safety car or virtual safety car at the Spanish Grand Prix since 2021, but stopping in these conditions only loses around 14 seconds, and we’ve already seen this year how an SC or VSC can activate a reading. her head.
This is where Mercedes or Ferrari, with two cars in the lead, can choose to run a driver for a long time and bet on a timely intervention from the Safety Car.
We thought this track would show us the hierarchy in F1 and it really looks like the peloton has converged, setting us up for a brilliant race on Sunday.
Sky Spanish GP schedule live from Sports F1
Sunday June 23
7:45 a.m.: Race 2 of the F1 Academy
9 a.m.: F3 featured race
10:30 a.m.: F2 featured race
12:30 p.m.: Grand Prix Sunday: preparation for the Spanish GP
2:00 p.m.: The SPANISH GRAND PRIX
4 p.m.: Checkered flag: reaction from the Spanish GP
Formula 1 returns to Europe as the championship moves to Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix and the start of a tripleheader. Watch every session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month subscription – No contracts, cancel anytime
