Lando Norris says he will “go for it” if he sees an opportunity starting third at the Styrian Grand Prix.
Despite finishing 19th in final practice, the McLaren driver was one of the stars from qualifying at the Red Bull Ring claiming fourth before gaining a place due to Valtteri Bottas’ three-place grid penalty.
But while the turnaround in performance may seem almost miraculous session-to-session, Norris was only surprised by how close he was to the Mercedes drivers in front.
“Yes, I think we were expecting to be good and strong because we have been relatively decent all weekend – you know,” he said via Formula1.com post-session.
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“Daniel [Ricciardo] was very fast yesterday in P2 and the car’s been good, and you know we always take a bit of a step into Q3.
“[To be] under a tenth off both the Mercedes is a bit of a shock because I think I can just state a fact that they have more grip than us, and we’re not that far behind. It’s weird to think of, but it’s a good position, so I’m happy.”
Norris also outpaced Sergio Perez, as the Mexican still lacks the same single-lap pace in the Red Bull as his teammate and polesitter Max Verstappen.
And the Briton, who has only finished outside the top five on race day once all season, does think qualifying represents the best chance to upset the pecking order.
“To be ahead of one of the Red Bulls, I would say, is not expected, because they’ve been very fast from Lap 1 here and miles ahead of us all weekend,” he said.
“But it’s a similar story to Monaco or Baku or some tracks where we always looked way behind Mercedes or Red Bull, but as the fuel loads come down, I think everyone’s car becomes more equal and more competitive and yes, sometimes it can surprise you a little bit, and we can be ahead of them.”
As for his expectations for race day, Norris noted this is the second straight year he’ll start in the top three for a race in Austria, but he wasn’t sure if a repeat of his podium finish from 12 months ago was also possible.
“I mean it’s a similar story to a couple of years ago when I was into P2 or P3 and we were mixed with the Red Bulls and the Mercedes guys,” he said.
“If there’s an opportunity, 100% I’ll go for it, but I still need to pick and choose my competitors and my races carefully and not kill the tyres and things like that.
“So, we’ll wait and see. I think on paper, on Friday, they were quite a bit quicker than us – both the Mercedes and Red Bulls – so I’m not expecting to be super competitive against them, but we still have a good chance to beat everyone else behind, so that’s the plan.”
