Lando Norris: “The car has been working very well, especially in the low fuel conditions”

Lando Norris was ‘very happy’ with the result of Qualifying for the French Grand Prix on Saturday, with the Briton splitting the two Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team drivers in fifth place.

The McLaren F1 Team introduced a new aero package for this weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard, and on low fuel runs, Norris felt the car has been working extremely well, so much so he was able to put his car onto the third row of the grid.

There are a few unknowns for Norris and McLaren going into the race, but he says they are in a good position to get a good result on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m very happy. P5 is a great result for us today,” said Norris.  “The car has been working very well, especially in the low fuel conditions. I feel like we did a very good job, extracted everything we could out of the car and I’m very happy with that. 

“Thank you to the team both at track and the factory for their work to bring the upgrade package to the car and making sure everything was there for us to put together a great final lap.

“There’s a long and difficult job to do tomorrow but we’re in the best place we can be to secure some good points. Let’s see what we can do.”

“We have been working hard to get the most out the new parts” – Daniel Ricciardo

Team-mate Daniel Ricciardo missed out on joining Norris in Q3 by the narrowest of margins, although the Australian will move up from eleventh to start ninth on the grid thanks to the grid penalties for Carlos Sainz Jr. and Kevin Magnussen.

Ricciardo says everyone within the team has been working hard to get on top of the new parts introduced to the car this weekend, and he admitted he was frustrated not to give them something more to cheer about by making it into Q3.

“Well obviously, I don’t want to be out in Q2,” admitted Ricciardo.  “It was close but there are several corners where I’m offline and not really able to get it doing what I want it to do.

“So, for sure, frustrated, especially when we’re close. We have been working hard to get the most out the new parts this weekend, and thanks to everyone who has worked to get them to track.

“I think we’ve been hanging around the top ten all weekend, so it showed we’re on the brink of it.”

Ricciardo, like many other drivers on the grid, says tyre management will be extremely important on race day, particularly with temperatures at Paul Ricard likely to be the hottest they’ve been all weekend long.

“We’ll gain a few spots tomorrow with some engine penalties, so that will move us up the grid,” he said.  “Then we just need to make a good start and hopefully we can show some good race pace and tyre management.

“I think that’ll be key for tomorrow.” 

Daniel Ricciardo will start ninth in France despite being eliminated in Q2 – Credit: Octane Photographic Ltd