Back in 2021, Lando Norris came agonizingly close to winning his first-ever Grand Prix in F1 at the Sochi Autodrome in Russia. Having led the race for the most part, weather played spoilsport to Norris’ hopes as he spun out of the lead in Lap 51. Since then, a race-win continues to elude the Briton despite him looking like a strong contender on several occasions.
🗣️ | Lando Norris: “Sochi 2021 was probably one of the hardest things to get over, not simply because of what happened but because of what we almost achieved.” 😢
[via: Sky Sports F1 Podcast] #F1 #Formula1 #McLaren #SpanishGP #LN4 pic.twitter.com/Lk4gDx9QNr
— McLaren F1 News 🏴🇦🇺 (@TheMcLarenZone) June 6, 2023
In recent times, a much improved McLaren car has reignited the hopes of Norris registering a race win. The second half of the season has presented the team with multiple podium finishes. While Oscar Piastri has registered a sprint win, Norris has not tasted similar success. However, when the day comes, Norris revealed, via an interview clip uploaded on X, who he would like to share the podium with.
“Carlos [Sainz] would be good. Yes, Carlos. Carlos second, so then, I can look down at Carlos for the first time. With Oscar [Piastri] as well, have to have the team up there.”
With this admission, Norris once again shed light on how good of a friendship he shares with Sainz while also exemplifying his dedication towards his team. Having found great pace in the qualifying session in Sao Paulo, it seemed like Norris might be in with a chance at pole position ahead of the race, boosting his shot at winning his first-ever GP. However, weather messed his chances up once again.
Lando Norris might have won the pole position if it weren’t for the rain
After the qualifying sessions began, McLaren looked like one of the most consistent teams on the track, with both their drivers registering sub-71-second laps in Q1 and Q2. Norris had the fastest lap of the entire qualifying in Q2 with a time of 1:10.021 and looked like he would secure pole position in Q3. However, heavy rainfall cut down on the session, meaning Norris did not have enough time to register the fastest lap.
there’s something about lando norris always putting on a smile no matter how bad the session was ❤️🩹❤️🩹pic.twitter.com/cySLhPVJQ3
— andy (@iiiuminateandy) November 3, 2023
While Norris could only muster up a lap time of 1:11.987, which was good enough for P7, Piastri had to settle for P10. As such, despite having great pace, both the McLaren cars missed out on an opportunity to start on the front row.
Addressing the same, a gutted Norris spoke of missing out on an opportunity to be on pole. He claimed the car had amazing pace, and there was space for them to be the quickest on the grid, but the weather had other plans for them. Adding to his statement, Norris admitted to being disappointed with the result but claimed there wasn’t much they could have done.
