Lando Norris kickstarted the 2025 season perfectly as he won the season opener in Australia, which helped him lead the championship for the first time in his career. While the Briton still leads the standings by three points from his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, he is in serious danger of losing the lead after what transpired during the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying session.
The Briton had no trouble in getting through the first two qualifying sessions as he set lap times that were comfortably in the top five. However, it was in Q3 when things went massively wrong for him.
Norris crashed out during his first flying lap, and his incident brought out the red flags. After crashing into the walls, he said he is “Okay” on the team radio and referred to himself as an “Idiot“.
But what happened to Norris during the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying session as just like his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, he too was looking very good to get a front row start.
Red flag
Lando Norris has crashed out in Q3! #F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/OB1eQMLxAz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 19, 2025
The 25-year-old was full throttle heading into turn four, but as soon as he hit the kerb, he lost the car and ended up colliding with the wall. This crash is likely to have massive repercussions for him, as his nearest rival in the championship, Piastri, is set to start from second.
With the Australian set to start from P2, he will be the favorite to take the lead in the championship. What will make things worse for Norris is that reigning world champion Max Verstappen, who is currently P3 in the standings and is just eight points behind him, registered another stunning lap and will start on pole.
So, with Norris set to start from P10, he could very well fall behind both drivers in the standings. Meanwhile, Mercedes’ George Russell — who has had a stellar start to the 2025 season with three podiums after the first four races — will start just behind Verstappen and Piastri.
