Damon Hill has sent Lando Norris a ‘fortunate’ verdict after spotting something lucky in the McLaren pilot’s pole position lap in qualifying for the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix.
The 24-year-old took just his second-ever pole position in Formula 1 on Saturday around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Norris posted a 1:11.383 with his final flying lap to beat Max Verstappen by 0.020 seconds. The McLaren and Red Bull stars were in a class of their own.
Mercedes locked out the second row of the Spanish GP grid but Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ran 0.318s and 0.320s down on Norris’ time. Neither Ferrari driver could get close to the Briton, too, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz 0.348s and 0.353s slower than Norris.
Damon Hill thinks Lando Norris got a lucky tow to take pole for the Spanish GP
But Sky Sports F1 pundit Hill spotted something slightly lucky about Norris’ lap which sealed the McLaren driver his first pole position since the Russian GP back in 2019. Having to move out of the way for Esteban Ocon gave the Bristol-born star a slight slipstream on the straight.
Norris had to pull to the side to let Ocon steam through Turn 13 at full speed with the Alpine racer on a push lap. But the McLaren driver was wise to the blue flags and tucked straight in to steal a tow onto the pit straight. But Ocon backed straight off after crossing the finish line.
READ MORE: Five unforgettable Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona including Senna vs Mansell
Verstappen also got a lot of help on his final Q3 lap after Red Bull sacrificed Sergio Perez to support the Dutchman. The Mexican gave up his shot at a better qualifying result to tow his teammate down the pit straight. So, Hill feels Norris was a bit lucky to get help from a rival.
“That’s a bit of teamwork [with Verstappen and Perez] but this was like a different strategy to get a tow off a rival team,” Hill said on Sky Sports F1 (22/6, 16:24). “So, it was fortunate perhaps. But, definitely, it could have been useful.”
McLaren could not sacrifice Oscar Piastri as Red Bull did Sergio Perez
Perez finished qualifying for the 2024 Spanish GP in P8 after abandoning his final run to help Verstappen. But the 34-year-old will fall back with his three-place grid penalty. The stewards penalised Perez at the Canadian GP after driving a car in an unsafe condition after his crash.
McLaren did not have the same ability to ask Oscar Piastri to abandon his qualifying to help Norris with the Australian also in the fight for pole position. But the 23-year-old ran wide to dip into the gravel on his final flyer to finish Q3 in P10, yet gains a spot with Perez’s penalty.
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