Lando Norris has labelled his final Sprint Qualifying lap at the United States Grand Prix as “shocking” after taking P4 in the session, with the Briton admitting to struggling with car issues throughout the day in Austin.
After ending the weekend’s sole practice hour in fourth earlier in the day, Norris found himself in the same position by the end of SQ3, having been unable to beat the early benchmark set by the Mercedes of George Russell – a time that Max Verstappen went on to better by just 0.012s.
READ MORE: Verstappen pips Russell to Sprint Qualifying pole in Austin by 0.012s
Asked how he reflected on the session after jumping out of the car, Norris answered: “Not very good – I’m P4. Not a great day, I’ve been struggling the whole day honestly with the balance and the set-up.
“In a way [I’m] happy with P4 because I feel like it could have been a lot worse, but my lap was shocking. So yeah, not a terrible day – it could have been worse, could have been better, but I’ll take it.”
In terms of what had caused his lap to be “shocking” – and whether it could be down to not having had the time to dial in McLaren’s updates yet – Norris said: “It’s not a new package, it’s pretty much the same.”
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