26/11/2023
NEWS STORY
Out-qualified by his teammate, Lando Norris says he is making too many mistakes on Saturdays.
For a few brief moments it looked like the youngster would start alongside Max Verstappen on the front row for the third time this season - having joined Charles Leclerc at COTA - but first teammate Oscar Piastri went quicker and then George Russell.
While even starting from fifth is whole lot better than the 11th, 19th, 13th and 16th witnessed at the start of the year, Norris feels he could, and should, be doing better.
Having posted a purple in the opening sector of his first run in Q3, he was looking even better on his second flying lap until getting it wrong and sliding it all away in Turn 13.
"Any mistake in qualifying, when you are fighting for a good position, is frustrating," he said. "But I'm just making so many mistakes on a Saturday at the minute.
"Every other lap was among my best," he added. "Q1, Q2 were among my best laps, and my first lap in Q3 was very strong. It's just this one little mistake. I don't know why it happened. I've not done that all weekend so it's frustrating.
"I'm just doing a shit job on Saturday," he sighed.
Asked if he might be being too hard on himself, he said: "Not at all. I was fighting for P2 and I ended up P5 because of a stupid mistake. I'm too soft on myself."
Fact is it is hard to tell if the Briton is genuinely being too hard on himself or perhaps playing up for the cameras as this self-deprecating, little boy lost image appears to go down well with certain types of the new breed of fan who flock to social media in the wake of such comments to comfort their hero.
It's hard to imagine the likes of Denny Hulme ever coming out with such a comment and accompanying it with a doleful look.
Maybe we're being over-critical but Drive to Survive has a lot to answer for.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Yas Marina here.