Lando Norris regains his qualifying form at the right time and place: at Formula 1’s crown jewel in Monaco. With a well-thought-out strategy and a new track record, he defeats local favorite Charles Leclerc and teammate Oscar Piastri. “It’s nice to be rewarded,” he says.
It seems a weight has been lifted off him. Lando Norris radiates after the qualifying round in the streets of Monte-Carlo. “I now realize again how good this feels after all the problems we’ve had,” says the Brit. “It’s been a while,” he refers to his last pole, in mid-March at this year’s opening number in Melbourne.
According to Norris, there’s no better place than Monaco to close a somewhat difficult period (for now). “We’ve worked hard towards a moment like this,” Norris believes. “The team has done a great job, because this doesn’t just happen. I’m glad I can give something back to everyone with this result.”
The Brit builds his final round in the qualifying, which is halted a few times, neatly. In the first session, he indicates with the fastest time that he should be taken into account. In the final minutes, he improves the time of home favorite Charles Leclerc after a double qualifying lap by more than a tenth. “The tricky thing here is that you have to be consistent to find some time somewhere again and again. For that, you need to have courage and take a little more risk each time,” says Norris. “In the end, it was a nice lap and it’s nice to be rewarded for that.”
