Lando Norris took second place on the grid for Saturday’s
Sprint at Interlagos, but wasn’t in the mood to discuss championship
possibilities afterward.
The British driver is attempting to close down a 47-point
lead on Max Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship and was beaten to the top
spot in the final seconds of the session by McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
Lando Norris: I hate these questions
With Norris taking second place and Verstappen only managing
fourth, the result is working in Norris’ favour for the start of Saturday’s
24-lap Sprint race, but the McLaren man
wasn’t in jubilant form as he spoke to media straight after the session.
Asked by a reporter from F1 about the result and what it
means to him in the context of the championship, Norris interrupted to say: “I
don’t care.
“I hate these questions so much. I’m just gonna race, I
don’t care about where he qualifies.”
With the reporter attempting again to get his thoughts on
his result relative to Verstappen, Norris said: “For me, it’s just focused on
my own job, and that’s it. It’s just it’s the same question every time.
“But it doesn’t matter. If he’s first, if he’s last, I’ll do
the best I can.”
Having only had a single practice session to fettle the
setup of the McLaren MCL38, due to the use of the Sprint format for the weekend
in Sao Paulo, Norris said it had come as a surprise to both him and Piastri as
to the extent of their advantage – the two drivers being quarter of a second
clear of third-placed Charles Leclerc.
“Yeah, I think a big improvement comparing to where we were
earlier today,” he said.
“We were struggling a lot, so a little bit surprised that we
were so quick today, but a pleasant one, of course.”
The British driver admitted his final run in SQ3 was
littered with mistakes, leading to him abandoning the lap and giving Piastri
the chance to beat him.
“A good lap but I made so many mistakes in my final lap and
just boxed but yeah, a good job as a team,” he said.
“Like I said, I wasn’t expecting it.
.webp)
