F1 | Norris: “Starting with Max next to me? I don’t want to think about it!”

Three and a half tenths. This is the crazy number with which Lando Norris managed to beat the first of his rivals, Max Verstappen, second but never really in the fight to take pole position for the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix.

Norris had already shown that he was in great form this weekend, as was McLaren, but the gaps inflicted on his rivals were an important signal for a driver who is eager for revenge after having thrown away so many opportunities to win again this season.

“It’s a fantastic day,” said Norris as he stepped out of his MCL36 after qualifying. “It’s nice to come back from vacation and get a pole. Yeah, I have to say the lap was pretty good, qualifying went smoothly and I managed to do some good laps. Especially the last one, the one in Q3, which is the most important thing. I’m happy with the work of the team and how it went today.”

“It was actually more difficult than it seemed. I also complained, because the lap here is complex. You never know what the limits are, how much you can push, what to expect. But that’s our job. I feel comfortable, the car worked fantastically. We brought some updates and it’s been a while since we brought them and everything is going very well. I thank the team very much.”

Qualifying rewarded Lando, but tomorrow he will have to start from pole next to his scarecrow at the start, which is Max Verstappen. Norris knows he will have to face the home driver and leader of the World Championship, who will bring strong pressure throughout the race, but at the moment he does not want to think about it.

“I don’t want to talk about tomorrow’s start. I’m sure it will be tough though, Max has been very fast all weekend. Today we beat him, but tomorrow he’ll start second, he’ll definitely push hard and put us under pressure all race long. Also because he’s racing in his home race. But I can’t wait.”