While the two drivers at the top of the table dominate the headlines of the weekend, we shouldn’t forget that McLaren is also in a battle with Ferrari for P3. And getting a good qualifying result was the first step in making a miraculous recovery against the Italians. The result was almost ruined when Lando Norris found a loose Red Bull on his way during a flying Q3 lap.

In the first of his flying laps, Norris suddenly encountered Perez in the final few turns. This obviously slowed him down and resulted in a frustrating radio message.

Norris could be heard saying, “Red Bull screwed me over.”

He described how Perez got in his way, on the “slowest part of the circuit”.

This is a huge gap; a tough one to overcome, but not impossible.

The other McLaren driver, Daniel Ricciardo, qualified in P10. So, McLaren would hope he can quickly make his way up as they’ll try to put as big a gap as they can between themselves and their rivals.

But things could get quite tricky for Lando Norris, as he is directly behind the two championship rivals, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Could Lando Norris get in between the two protagonists?

In his post-qualifying interview, Norris admitted he is “a bit nervous”. He said, “I’m a bit nervous. I want to stay where I am and just watch everything unfold over the first few laps or even the whole race, but I also don’t want really to get involved too much because it can cause a lot of controversy.”

“I’ll do my best and if I get a chance I’ll go for it.”

Let’s see if Lando Norris can have a good start on Sunday.

The Mclaren driver would want to make the most of his position without getting too much involved with the two guys up front.

Also Read: Lando Norris Savagely Implies Using Max Verstappen F1 Tactics to Beat Charles Leclerc in Abu Dhabi