Lando Norris expressed satisfaction with his second-place start for the Miami Grand Prix. According to him, Max Verstappen drove ‘a typical Max lap with little to criticize’, but with the speed of the MCL39, Norris sees plenty of opportunities to still beat the Dutchman in the race.
Max Verstappen immediately debunked the assumption that drivers with children become slower with his pole position. “Congratulations to Max, especially now that he has become a father. I secretly hoped that would slow him down a bit,” a sportsmanlike Lando Norris joked to F1 TV.
Norris himself is satisfied with his second place. “All in all, I’m happy with today and the progress we’ve made with the car,” he says. “Max drove another typical Max lap, there’s little to criticize,” he compliments.
In both Q1, Q2, and Q3, Norris clocked the second fastest time. In the last round of Q3, he missed the pole position by just over six hundredths, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli following him by only two thousandths. A minor error in turn 17 may have cost Norris dearly. “It always comes down to ‘if only’ or ‘what if’. I didn’t quite finish it today, but the speed was definitely there. The car felt good, better than in previous weekends. I haven’t quite put it all together yet, but that’s just the way it is. I’m ready to attack at turn 1 tomorrow,” says Norris.
