Norris thrilled to take Singapore pole under pressure while Piastri blames himself for ‘pretty poor job’

Lando Norris was satisfied with his pole-claiming performance during qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver admitting that he enjoyed the pressure that came with having to rely on just one lap in Q3. However, team mate Oscar Piastri cut a frustrated figure after ending the session in P5.

Having appeared to be the driver to beat throughout the weekend’s practice sessions, Norris continued the theme by looking fast during the early stages of qualifying. However, when a crash for Carlos Sainz triggered the red flags in Q3, most of the pack then only had time for one flying lap when the session resumed.

READ MORE: Norris beats Verstappen to pole for Singapore GP after Sainz crashes out

Fortunately for Norris his sole effort of 1m 29.525s proved to be enough to slot into P1 on the grid, putting him two tenths clear of Max Verstappen in second. Reflecting on his lap after jumping out of the car, Norris admitted that it had not necessarily been smooth sailing.

“It was tough,” the Briton said. “Especially through qualifying I was finding it a little difficult to progress much and to get a lot of lap time, and more of the guys around seemed to get quicker and quicker so that put me under a bit more pressure, especially with just one lap at the end.

“But it was good enough for pole and I’m happy with that, especially here in Singapore. A good feeling, I felt good all weekend, I felt confident – maybe not so much in quali, but we got the job done.”

Pushed on how difficult it had been to know that everything rested on his one attempt in Q3, Norris explained: “I like it, it gets your heart rate going and it’s good fun. My lap wasn’t as good as my lap previous to the red flag, so there’s always just that little bit more in it.

“Like I said, the car’s been feeling good – when you have a good-feeling car and you’re confident then you can go out and push and you can get the lap times, so I did the job I had to do today and [I’m] excited to see what we can do tomorrow.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the qualifying action from Singapore as Norris claims thrilling pole while Sainz crashes out

While his first sector did not match the one he had set previously, Norris says that he had enough confidence in the car to know that he could get the job done.

“A little bit of it’s just [that] I had faith that we were quick, so I didn’t have to over-push and I could just do what I’ve been doing the whole weekend,” the 24-year-old commented. “That’s a nice feeling, I didn’t have to go over and beyond.

“It’s tricky – the car’s moving around, it’s bumpy, it’s easy to brake one metre too late all of a sudden. You pay the price for over-driving and over-pushing, but I kept it cool and I did what I had to do, so I’m happy.”

On the other side of the McLaren garage, qualifying did not end quite so well for Piastri. The Australian appeared more comfortable with the MCL38 following some struggles on Friday, but was ultimately left to rue mistakes that he believes cost him valuable lap time.

Asked if going out early and not experiencing the best of the track conditions had had an impact, Piastri answered: “No, I think it was just down to me. I did a pretty poor job in the last sector and lost a lot of time there.

READ MORE: ‘That wasn’t fun’ – Ricciardo reflects on painful Q1 exit in Singapore amid speculation over his future

“It’s a shame because my lap was looking strong at that point, just… yeah, very disappointing and frustrating.”

The 23-year-old continued: “I felt pretty comfortable through qualifying, to be honest, just a couple too many mistakes which is frustrating.

“The pace in the car has been really strong all weekend, it’s taken me a while to unlock it but I felt like I was more or less on the pace in quali, so it just makes it if anything even more frustrating.”

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