Norris ‘nothing to prove’ despite missed opportunities

Pole-sitter Lando Norris says he has nothing to prove in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, despite not having won since his maiden victory in Miami in May.

Norris said a one-two on the grid with team-mate Oscar Piastri alongside him and ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen is “definitely once again a good opportunity [to win] for both of us and for us as a team to score some big points, and that’s the target”.

But he rejected suggestions that it was important to lay down a marker after challenging for wins in Imola, Canada, Spain, Austria and the UK but just missing out.

The Briton said: “Every single qualifying is important and every single race is important. It’s not all of a sudden I need to do it and prove my point – I don’t.

“We have done the best we could in every race. We have shown great pace and opportunities.

“I know we have missed out on some and we don’t need to go back into all that stuff.”

Norris said before the race weekend that McLaren had “definitely been the most consistent team” since introducing a big upgrade package in Miami, but “I don’t think we’ve had a dominant weekend”.

So far, Hungary is the closest they have come. Norris was fastest in Friday practice and in the final session on Saturday before qualifying, and again in the second session of a difficult wet-dry qualifying period before taking pole.

Norris managed to take pole despite only having one one set of new tyres for the final session while his rivals had two.

Norris was 0.328 seconds quicker than Verstappen. But after Piastri and Verstappen had used their second set of new tyres, Piastri closed to within 0.022secs and Verstappen 0.046secs.

It was McLaren’s first one-two on the grid since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, when Lewis Hamilton led Jenson Button.

Norris said he was expecting a close race on Sunday.

“It would be nice to have a nice Turn One and see what happens from there, but I am not expecting it,” he said. “I am expecting a difficult race with Oscar and Max behind.

“Every one is important. Every time, we try to maximise every place, every point and the more we can try and get back on Max, and the more the team can get on Red Bull in the constructors’ [championship] the better.

“[There is] no point or emphasis on trying to beat a particular someone or something. It’s just go out and do what we do because we’re doing a good job.”

He said he believed Red Bull were “as quick” as McLaren, and pointed out that they had shown the best race pace in Friday practice, when conditions were more akin to the hotter weather that is expected to return for the race.

“They’ll still be challenging us a lot.”

Piastri said he was aware that places could change at the first corner because it is a long run to Turn One from the start, which gives drivers a chance to use the slipstream to their advantage.

But Norris said McLaren would discuss how best to maximise their position at the start of the race.

Verstappen has a comfortable 84-point championship lead over Norris with half the season still remaining, while Red Bull look more vulnerable in the constructors’ championship, for which both cars score points.

Their lead has been coming down and is 71 over Ferrari and 78 over McLaren.

Verstappen made clear his concerns over his team’s performance by pointing out that they had not managed to return to being the fastest car despite what he had described on Thursday as their biggest upgrade package of the season.

“For sure [the upgrades] work, but we are still not first, right?” Verstappen said. “So we need more. It’s as simple as that.

“I was happy with the laps but balance-wise everything was a bit on the edge. I’m pushing as hard as I can and then you have little moments here and there. It just means we are a bit slower so we have work to do.

“We are pushing as hard as we can but clearly at the moment it is still not how we want it to be.

“We will continue to do so and try to find more performance but I am also well aware that is not so easy to find with things already planned and the way the car is.

“There are many races and things can happen with conditions and we just need to stay focused and do the best we can every single time and optimise our performances.”

Mercedes’ chances of becoming the first team this year to win three races in a row look distant.

After victories for George Russell in Austria and Lewis Hamilton in Britain, Hamilton is their highest driver on the grid in fifth place, sandwiched between the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Team-mate George Russell is 17th after he and the team fumbled the mixed conditions in the first session.

“We’re definitely not quickest,” Hamilton said. “In the cooler conditions, we’re looking good but warmer it’s not the case.

“The McLarens and Red Bull will be quicker in the race. We are there or thereabouts with the Ferraris, so I think we will have a battle with those guys.”

Leclerc admitted that he was “disappointed” because Ferrari, who have an upgraded floor this weekend, had “lost a little bit our performance” from earlier in the season.

“We have had a more consistent and smooth weekend but the performance is lacking.”