Lando Norris was “not too disappointed” with qualifying third for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Race, despite a six-tenth gap to team-mate Oscar Piastri.
Norris was comprehensively outperformed by the Australian, whose blistering lap around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit saw him take pole, with Max Verstappen second.
Piastri appeared to have the MCL39 hooked up well, with Norris’ final lap perhaps being a tad untidy.
Speaking after the session, Norris acknowledged the scruffiness of his final run, but did not think it would have made much difference to the overall outcome.
“Not quick enough, I guess, is the only thing,” he said. “It wasn’t the cleanest of laps, but still quite a big gap to the top.
“Not too disappointed, third for the Sprint, so not a big story, but some things to work on.”
When asked whether being told to speed up on his preparation lap caused too much wear to his tyres, Norris was unsure.
“It was just impossible to say,” he said. “Maybe it made my tyres better. You don’t know those things, but we’ll look at it overnight.”
In FP1, Norris was also third with Piastri first, with a similar gap between the two, indicating that the title-leader is possibly regaining momentum over his team-mate.
Asked how he is preparing to take the fight to Piastri as the weekend goes on, Norris continued to seem nonplussed by Friday’s gulf between the two men.
“It’s a weekend with lots of elements to it, potentially. It’s just Friday, so I’m not too fussed,” he expressed.
“Not the happiest, of course. I’d like to be a bit quicker than I was today, but it’s the way it is. I just have to do some more work tonight.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri takes F1 Belgian GP Sprint pole with emphatic lap
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