Karun Chandhok has praised a Formula 1 driver who stepped up ‘when it matted’ in qualifying for the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix with an ‘absolutely sensational’ lap time.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya bore witness to the second pole position in the F1 career of Lando Norris on Saturday. A 1:11.383 proved to be just enough to beat Max Verstappen in Q3 by just 0.020 seconds. Norris had not taken a pole position since the Russian GP of 2021.
Three Britons also feature in the top four after Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell edged the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Just 0.035 seconds split the second and third rows of the Spanish GP grid. Norris was 0.318s quicker than Hamilton.
Karun Chandhok hails Lando Norris for stepping up in Q3 at the Spanish GP
Valtteri Bottas also shone in qualifying for the Spanish GP by taking P12 in his Sauber, whilst teammate Zhou Guanyu finished in P15. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon also showed Alpine had pace at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya by sandwiching Sergio Perez with P7 and P9.
But how Norris dug it out of the bag to hand McLaren pole position impressed Chandhok on Saturday. The former HRT star felt the Bristol-born racer was the only pilot to stand up in Q3 and fight Verstappen. Norris even had to find a lot of time compared to his fastest lap in Q2.
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Norris was only the fourth-fastest driver in Q2 and faced a deficit of 0.219s to Verstappen of Red Bull. Both Mercedes stars also ended the intermediate stage ahead of the McLaren ace. Yet Norris slashed his 1:11.872 lap time down to 1:11.383 to secure pole for the Spanish GP.
“Sensational lap, absolutely sensational,” Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (22/6, 16:01). “He had to find a chunk of time, half a second quicker than his Q2 time. I felt he held something back from his first run and he delivered it superbly.
“Look at the gap! He’s up all through. We thought Mercedes and Ferrari were in contention but when it mattered, it was only Lando who got ahead of Max. Not the others.”
Lando Norris found far more lap time than his rival drivers in Q3
Norris found precisely 0.489 seconds between Q2 and Q3 to pip Verstappen to pole for the Spanish GP. Verstappen also improved between the stages but the Red Bull star only found 0.250s. Hamilton and Russell also improved their Q2 times in Q3 by just 0.091s and 0.109s.
Sainz, too, only found 0.138s between Q2 and Q3 to settle for P6 behind teammate Leclerc, who found 0.307s. No driver could rival the gains Norris found in the final stage to take the fight for pole to Verstappen – partly thanks to Esteban Ocon giving the McLaren star a tow.
Somewhat fortuitously, Ocon towed Norris on the pit straight to start his pole position lap in Q3. But Verstappen also benefitted from a tow after Red Bull sacrificed Perez’s last Q3 run to aid the three-time reigning drivers’ champion, just to still come up short to Norris by 0.020s.
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