29/08/2021
NEWS STORY
Lando Norris has revealed that he was cheering on countryman George Russell as he watched qualifying from his ambulance.
Having been checked by officials at the circuit, following his huge crash at the start of Q3, the Briton was subsequently taken to hospital for further precautionary checks.
And as the session finally resumed after 45 minutes, Norris was able to follow the action from the back of the ambulance in which he was being taken to hospital.
"I'm very happy for George," he said, "I was watching in the ambulance on the way, I wanted to watch qualifying still and I was cheering on George to go for that pole."
Referring to the accident, he said: "I guess it was tricky going out in Q3 as even on the out-lap I was saying how wet it was and saying it should be stopped or something as I was aquaplaning quite a bit.
"It's a difficult situation," he admitted, "how much do you want to push, how much do you not?
"I think it was a combination of pushing a bit too much for the weather at that point, aquaplaning in the middle of Eau Rouge which doesn't end too well."
As things turned out, many feel that had it not been for the crash Norris could have been on pole himself.
"Everything was going extremely well since the first lap in Q1, the car was feeling hooked up, I felt confident in the car.
"I feel bad," he added, "as things were going well, the car was on fire, I think I could have quite easily fought for pole position but I've now given the team a lot of work to do and a very late night."
Asked how he is feeling, having been given the all-clear to race, he said: "I've been better, but I'm good, just a bit bruised, it was quite a big impact, I've been thrown around a bit, but I'm ready to race, I want to get back on track already."
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