Lando Norris has revealed his approach to Sunday’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix following his 10-place grid penalty for a power unit change.
Norris emerged as the closest challenger to Kimi Antonelli in Spa, the young Italian finishing fastest in two of the three practice sessions ahead of qualifying.
Q1 and Q2 cemented the pace of the MCL40, with Norris fastest in the day’s first qualifying session, before dropping back in Q2.
The reigning world champion set the timing sheets and grandstands into cheers when he surged to the top of the standings in Q3 to hold provisional pole position.
An excursion into the gravel on his final lap dashed all hopes of holding the mantle of fastest driver on Saturday, instead forced to settle for third.
A known sting in the tail also compounded his session, with Norris taking a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race for exceeding his maximum power unit components allocation.
Norris revealed his mindset heading into a race that will see him attempt to claw his way back through the field, starting out of position compared to his competitors.
“Honestly, it’s not too different. I mean, you try to do your best in every race”, he when asked by Motorsport Week in the press conference how Sunday will differ compared to a race when starting normally.
“You put together as many good plans as you can. Clearly, the pace is pretty good. It’s close, so it’s not like we’re easily going to be able to get back in the fight with the top group.
But, of course, a good start and a good first lap can easily get me back where I want to be quickly. From then on out, it’s just depending on how easy overtaking is and how difficult it is.
Lando Norris expecting a challenging race at Spa?
Norris confirmed the fluidity of race strategies available to him on Sunday, but confirmed his confidence in the ability of the MCL40 to propel him forward.
“I don’t think it’s going to be crazy easy, but there’s still a lot of possibilities, you know.
“Honestly, it’s not that different because you do the best you can in every race. You’re always attacking. For me, that’s always what works best. I guess we’ll probably come up with a few more scenarios.
“If overtaking is easy or hard and we can’t get back into the top six, seven, eight that quickly, what else can we do to bring us back into the fight. Apart from that, I’m confident we’ll be able to get up there pretty quickly.”
Norris’ insight hints at a driver aware of the challenges awaiting him on Sunday in Spa, with an attacking, aggressive strategy the likely method chosen to attempt to salvage his race day.
The podium may prove to be out of reach, but a solid top six pace is possible given the mysterious pace of the MCL40 at Spa.
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