BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Lando Norris said he knew his first pole position of the season was within his grasp before he headed out on his final lap in qualifying at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver snatched pole position by 0.012 seconds from the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who failed to improve on his second attempt in Q3 before Norris went faster.
The result comes after McLaren brought its latest set of upgrades to its car and marks the reigning champion team’s first pole position since last year’s Qatar Grand Prix.
Hamilton had set a benchmark time of a 1:17.219 with his first run in Q3, but Norris was near certain he could beat it as he headed out on track for his final flying lap.
“I was confident,” he said. “I knew I could do it, honestly.
“My first lap was also not the best. I just had a big snap of oversteer in Turn 12, so Turn 13 I messed up, and Turn 14 I was basically drifting. So I knew I could go quite a bit better.
“I was surprised my last lap was not better, but again, I tried to push it more. That’s why I say, with a third attempt, I think I would have understood the best of both worlds.
“But as I sat in the garage, I knew the pace was certainly there. It has been all weekend. Even though these guys [Ferrari] have been insanely fast, I knew I’d been driving very well, I’d been consistent, and I knew the car had potential.
“We also had the upgrades this weekend, and it doesn’t feel that different, but it certainly seems to be going a little bit quicker, and that’s always a good thing.”
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Despite the clear step in performance at the Hungaroring, Norris was reluctant to read too much into the qualifying result until after tomorrow’s race.
“Let’s just wait and see,” he said. “I mean, it’s just qualifying. It’s a long race ahead tomorrow, and it’s going to be a difficult one, so we’ll see.
“Certainly, if we just go back to Spa last weekend, like I said then, I thought I had good enough pace to certainly not be on pole, but certainly fight for a podium and potentially a win, just in terms of pace.
“I obviously didn’t, but the potential was there. It’s nice to see that’s kind of carried over to this weekend. We brought some good upgrades, like I said, and that potential has turned into a result, which is always a very nice thing to see for the whole team and very good for the motivation and the atmosphere within the team.
“It’s rewarding to see work going in and rewards being taken out. So, very pleased for all of them. But you can’t just rely on one good qualifying, so I need a good race tomorrow.
“Then we obviously have a nice summer break, but after that we need to try and repeat it several more times. We’ve been working hard. We know we’ve been on the back foot, but we’re making progress, and today certainly shows that.”
