Norris says he is 'disappointed' to miss out on pole position after qualifying third for Hungarian GP

Lando Norris qualified in third place for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, but admitted after that he was “disappointed” to miss out on pole position, with the Briton believing he made “too many mistakes” on his final lap of the day in Budapest.

Off the back of first podium finish of the season in Silverstone, Norris continued that fine form once again in qualifying, topping the timesheets in Q2. The Briton was then provisionally second in Q3, before Lewis Hamilton took pole, knocking him down to P3.

READ MORE: Hamilton beats Verstappen and Norris to Hungarian GP pole in qualifying thriller

Coming into the weekend, Norris admitted he was not sure whether McLaren could perform as well in Budapest as they had in Silverstone. And after qualifying on the second row alongside his team mate Oscar Piastri, Norris was asked whether he was surprised by their performance. He replied: “A little bit.”

Reflecting on his performance, Norris continued: “I’m disappointed, I guess. If you are within a tenth of pole it feels like you should be on pole if you put the lap together. I guess as an overall picture I am happy.

“The team did a good job. P3, P4 for both of us. Good weekend so far. As a driver I am not the happiest, I feel like made too many mistakes and that cost me today.”

When asked where he felt he lost out on pole, Norris replied: “There’s always little things. Just putting the lap together. It wasn’t the cleanest. I guess there is always an element of risk in trying to push a little bit more, nothing major.

“I don’t know how much it was between me and P1, but if there is a tenth, there is definitely a tenth in it. Frustrating, but I am happy. P3 is still a good position for tomorrow so, still a good day.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from qualifying in Budapest as Hamilton takes last gap pole position

Asked whether the MCL60 would fare well over a race distance, Norris answered: “I’m excited. The race pace yesterday on Friday was pretty strong. Just as strong as we probably were in Silverstone. I’m excited.

“Just difficult track to overtake, which is why I’m a bit more frustrated than I normally would be. I’m up there with the good guys. We got two cars up there, so hopefully we can use that and get some good points tomorrow.”

Norris will line up next to his team mate in Sunday’s race, with Piastri having left it late on his final lap to move up from ninth to fourth. And while pleased with the result, he felt he still had more pace in the car.

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“Happy, very happy,” said Piastri, when asked how he felt about the result. “I think it’s been a very encouraging day for the whole team to be at the front once again.

“I think for myself, [it] wasn’t the cleanest of Q3 laps, but to challenge the top three would be difficult. I think I would have had to put a very good lap together. I’m pretty happy with P4. We will see what we can do tomorrow. All in all, it’s been a good day.”

After narrowly missing out on a podium at Silverstone, Piastri was asked whether that was goal come Sunday afternoon. He replied: “Definitely. We will try our best. I think we can go into it realistically trying to challenge for the top three now.

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“We’ve seen this weekend how tight everybody has been, including Red Bull. We will see what we can do, [to] try and get that podium.

"[It's] going to be a very different race to Silverstone. A lot hotter, a lot more tyre deg, probably more pit stops as well, so we will see what happens.”