Lando Norris wasn’t complaining despite losing out on the top midfield position in qualifying for the British Grand Prix.
McLaren’s position as the fourth fastest team has been under threat with Renault recovering from a poor weekend in Austria, and Daniel Ricciardo proved it by beating the 19-year-old into seventh in Q3.
Reflecting on his the session, Norris explained how the blustery conditions at Silverstone were impacting the car’s performance.
“It was a reasonably good qualifying, Q1 started very well and then the wind changed a little bit and started to catch me, I made a few mistakes some small oversteers here and there,” he said in the paddock.
“We couldn’t improve as much as what other teams could do so we need to investigate it a little bit but we could have done one position better but I’m happy with P8.”
Proving his point, Norris’ Q1 time was his best time of qualifying and would have put him ahead of Ricciardo on the grid.
“It was a bit annoying because my confidence after Q1 went down a little bit, but apart from that I’m happy, we have some homework to do but it’s been a good Saturday,” he added.
Still, it isn’t dampening his enthusiasm for his first British GP on Sunday.
“A lot,” he smiled, when asked how he was enjoying the experience. “The whole weekend has been pretty cool so far, it’s exciting, tomorrow’s the big day, so I’m looking forward to it and I hope it can be a good race.”
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As for teammate Carlos Sainz, he was disappointed to miss out on Q3 in 13th and also blamed decreasing confidence in his McLaren.
“To lose half a second during qualifying is very hard to explain. I haven’t been trusting the car’s rear end and I’ve been struggling with the track’s new surface,” the Spaniard claimed.
“I would say Q1 is positive but as the sessions went on it just got worse and worse. Every new lap I had less grip and the rear just wouldn’t stick. It’s difficult to explain but hopefully, we will find an explanation.”