Lando Norris expects the Japanese Grand Prix to be “nerve-racking” due to the weather, as he looks to overhaul Max Verstappen to fight for victory.
Verstappen took a shock pole position on Saturday with his final lap of qualifying, edging out Norris by just 0.012s and Oscar Piastri by 0.044s. The McLaren pair had been quickest up to that point but will start from second and third in a race that is looking increasingly likely to be impacted by rain, something Norris knows could present both challenges and opportunities.
“No one knows what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, so no point trying to think of too many things,” Norris said. “We’ll do our homework tonight. It’s probably going to be a bit of a race like Melbourne, and that was an exciting race for everyone.
“Now I’ve got to try and do some overtakes, so we’ll see. I think the unknown of the weather is going to make it exciting and nerve-racking for everyone, and I’ve got to try to get past the guy on my left [Verstappen], so I’m excited.”
Norris says the McLaren is much more to his liking at Suzuka than in China where he finished second to Piastri, but acknowledges he didn’t find enough time in Q3 after going wide on his first run, leaving the door open for Verstappen’s lap.
“I went two tenths quicker than the Q2 lap, so not enough, but just a little bit,” he explained. “It’s a track where you just kind of chip away in different areas … and commit a bit more in those high-speed corners.
“But I was pretty happy with my lap, honestly. I tried pushing on a good amount more in Q3 Run 1 and it didn’t work out clearly, so I just had to kind of peg it back a lot. I was happy with the balance and happy with the car at the end.
“The margin is so small – I think it was a hundredth in it – but just not enough for pole.”
There were similar sentiments from Piastri, who felt he missed out on pole position due to a poor first sector, that he couldn’t make up despite being fastest throughout the rest of the lap.
“It wasn’t my best, sector one – I think I lost a little bit of time compared to the first lap of Q3,” Piastri said. “And when the gap’s four hundredths [of a second] from first to third, you think about it quite a bit.
“I’ve been pretty comfortable through qualifying. I think the first lap of Q3 was a good one, the second one just a little bit off the mark in a couple of places.
“I’ve had to dial myself in a bit more this weekend than I did last race and it’s taken a bit longer to get there. But looking at the margins and how it performed, I’ve been pretty happy. Just those little margins – when it’s so tight – make all the difference, clearly.”
