Standing ovation for McLaren
The biggest surprise of British Grand Prix qualifying is certainly identifiable in the performance of the McLareneven in first row with Lando Norris. The Briton, who had already given a concrete show of strength with third position at the Red Bull Ring, confirmed the progress of the Woking team with an excellent 2nd placealso finishing in front of his teammate Oscar Piastriwho thus establishes his best personal result in qualifying with the third place.
Zak Brown’s Enthusiasm
There is therefore great joy in the McLaren house, as demonstrated by the words released to Sky Sports F1 by the CEO of the historic English team Zak Brownwho does not forget the challenge that will arise tomorrow in the race: “Everyone at McLaren did a great job recovering the difficult start by working with their heads down – commented – the car has already improved a lot in Austria, and it was great to see the work done on Oscar’s car as well, which confirmed what we had already seen and what our expectations were. However, we have to stay focused on tomorrow’s race; our pilots have earned their salary today, they did a great job. The strategy was also right, above all because in Q1 it was difficult to have the right position on the track, therefore everyone at McLaren has done their job well. It’s a small victory in qualifying, but we have to focus on tomorrow – added the US manager – for the drivers there will be a lot of work to do, and I’m lucky it’s not me in the car, but we want to go forward, not backwards. We know it will be a difficult race, we qualified in front of tough opponents, but not by much. Pit stops will be key, as will strategy and a clean first lap. I haven’t seen Lando and Oscar yet, but they will definitely be thrilled and I will be encouraging them for tomorrow.”
Norris is not hiding
Speaking of pilots, Sky Sports F1 also interviewed Piastri e Norris at the end of the qualifications, starting with the latter. The Englishman, who came close to his first victory in Russia in 2021, is nevertheless convinced that the appointment with his first success in Formula 1 can be presented tomorrow in front of his home crowd: “It was a positively unexpected result – has explained – we didn’t expect to be ahead of the Aston Martins and Ferraris, but it went the way it went. I’m happy for now, and I don’t care about the rest. Now I aim for victory, tomorrow i will win“.
First podium for Piastri?
The Australian is aiming for a more cautious approach Oscar Piastri, in his first year in Formula 1 this year after the tormented contractual affair with Alpine that saw him protagonist last season. However, the 22-year-old doesn’t think his first podium in his career is improbable: “I think my first podium could be close – he has declared – it will certainly be complicated and some miracles will have to happen, but we can certainly fight to get many points. By doing our best, anything is possible.”
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