Lando Norris lost his third place to Charles Leclerc in the opening round, but reclaimed the podium position from the Monegasque in round 4. Norris attempted to overtake teammate Oscar Piastri during the Belgian sprint race, but was unsuccessful. The Brit had to settle for third place in the shortened race at Spa-Francorchamps, after teammate Oscar Piastri also failed to overtake winner Max Verstappen.
“Not much happened,” the Brit reflects immediately after the sprint race. “I had some fun at the start, when I started chasing Charles. But otherwise, it was just too difficult to get past Max. He drove a good race. I would never have gotten past him unless Oscar had done so. They drove a good race, so there was nothing more for us today.”
The Brit is asked if he hopes for a mistake from the two drivers ahead of him. “Of course I was hoping for a fight at the front of the field, but the Red Bull was just too fast for us on the straights,” the McLaren driver continues. “Maybe we need to make some changes for the qualifying, I’m not sure. But we’ll see what we can do.”
Third victory in a row?
Norris also discusses his expectations for the main race on Sunday. The McLaren driver hopes to continue his streak of Grand Prix victories at Spa-Francorchamps. “That’s the plan (a third victory in a row). I’m not so keen on sprint races, but the main races are important. I wasn’t so bad yesterday, just a few things didn’t go quite right. However, I’m pretty sure we can put in a good qualifying later today.”
