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McLaren driver Lando Norris’ tough start to the season was compounded after he shunted his car into the wall on Saturday in the qualifying session of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After the session, the British driver said that overtaking at the circuit would be tough and that his error may ultimately cost the team valuable points in Jeddah.
“I don’t think it’s going to be an easy one because I don’t think it’s very easy to overtake around here,” said Norris in the post-qualification press conference.
At the start of the season, many believed that the McLaren would be the strongest car in the circuit. But the past few weeks have pointed to the gap between McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes to be miniscule – a situation in which individual driver ability, car settings and track layouts have dictated race results. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took pole position for Jeddah with the Mercedes’ behind him completing the top three in qualification.
“We have a strong car but clearly not as good as we would like because Max is on pole and George is only 0.1secs behind, so it’s not like things are plain sailing at the minute,” said Norris.
Norris spoke about the toughness of the circuit when it comes to overtakes and said, “It’s almost impossible to overtake around here, so I’m not expecting anything magical. But we have a good car, so if we can work our way up to the top five, six, I will say I’ll be happy.”
The McLaren driver was supposed to be challenging for the World title this year, but has largely been pipped by his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri, who has registered two wins this season.
“It would have been nice to be in that fight. I was doing well until then and feeling comfortable. I shunted, so I am not going to be proud, I’m not going to be happy, I’ve let myself and the team down and the guys have a big job to do to fix it.”
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