Before qualifying in Brazil, either of Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri was tipped to get pole position. However, the last-minute weather change failed Norris’ plans as he couldn’t get a time good enough to oust either Charles Leclerc or Max Verstappen from the front row. Thus, the McLaren star is disappointed. He told Sky Sports after the session about how he had yet another underwhelming qualifying despite possibly having the ‘quickest‘ car on the grid.
“I don’t know what do feel about it. The car was amazing, it came alive a lot in qualifying and easily good enough to be quickest,” said Norris. “So another disappointing Saturday, but not a lot we could have done.”
On the other hand, Norris‘ teammate was having a great lap until he slipped in the final sector. The Australian race driver claimed he had no grip. Hence, since both McLarens had a disappointing qualifying session, Norris and Piastri will only start from P7 and P10 respectively. This is a huge setback for McLaren, who expected to have a great weekend ahead.
So, for Sunday, they would have to have yet another cracking show just like Norris had in Mexico. Till then, Max Verstappen remains the favorite as he starts from pole. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc has the chance to save Ferrari from McLaren’s wrath as the Monegasque starts on the front row alongside Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc tipped to halt McLaren train
After the Qatar Grand Prix, McLaren saw an opportunity to outscore Ferrari for P3 in the Constructors’ Standings when the latter had a 79-point lead. Since then, the gap has only extended to 93 points thanks to a successful spell by Ferrari in Mexico.
Moreover, with Leclerc now starting ahead of the two McLarens on Sunday, there is a huge possibility that the Monegasque would help Ferrari extend that gap to the Woking-based outfit even further. On the other hand, Ferrari would be fancying to even pressure Mercedes to concede their P2 in the standings.
The Silver Arrows has a fragile lead of 22 points over the Maranello-based team. Thus, one mistake by the eight-time world champions could make them lose their year-long work. So, indeed the last three rounds of this season are going to be interesting even though Red Bull have already won the championship.
