Lando Norris believes an ‘ability’ breakthrough enabled him to overcome Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver took his second Grand Prix pole and fourth overall pole position at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, with an effort that was just 0.020s quicker than Verstappen.
It is the fourth different driver to start from pole in the last four races, reflecting how the other teams have caught up to Red Bull in the last few races with their respective upgrades.
Norris has often shown pace to challenge Verstappen on weekends but failed to convert it, notably at the Miami Grand Prix when he qualified in fifth but went on to take his first F1 race win owing to a mid-race safety car.
READ MORE: Five unforgettable Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona including Senna vs Mansell
Lando Norris explains better approach to qualifying sessions
The Briton was the fourth-quickest driver behind both Mercedes in Q2, and faced a deficit of 0.219s to Verstappen going into the top-ten shootout. He managed to slash his initial pole lap time by four-tenths to produce a 1:11.383 for the Spanish GP pole.
The McLaren driver believes he has unlocked an ability which has proven crucial when extracting the last few tenths out of his MCL38 when speaking in the drivers’ press conference after the session.
“I’ve commented in the last few weeks about just not having that ability to kind of unlock something more come qualifying and find a limit and just get a bit stuck,” Norris said. “I just found it hard or very difficult to progress a lot through qualifying and kind of just get into a nice flow and a good rhythm.
“We’ve been working pretty hard on the simulator and with my team on trying to improve on all of these things, because comparing to others, comparing to Oscar [Piastri] in areas, I just wasn’t comfortable and I wasn’t confident that I was able to go out and just do what I needed to get done.
“This weekend, I’ve come in with a different approach and reset some things and definitely I feel like I’ve been on a better footing. So I have been. I’ve been confident. It’s not often I say that, that I’ve been confident.”
Lando Norris turns on the pressure for Max Verstappen
Even though McLaren did not bring any updates to the Spanish GP, Norris has been one of Verstappen’s closest challengers throughout the weekend.
The Briton was the most improved driver between Q2 and Q3 in qualifying, finding nearly half a second to snatch pole away from Verstappen.
Although he gained a brief tow from Esteban Ocon to start his lap, he made up most of his time through the middle sector where Red Bull had been struggling.
The 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill believes Norris got lucky with his pole attempt, while former F1 driver Karun Chandhok hailed him for delivering a ‘sensational lap’ given the deficit.
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