Norris ‘disappointed’ not to beat Piastri to Qatar GP pole

Lando Norris was disappointed not to beat teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri for pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix after making a mistake in his final qualifying lap.

Norris would start the race in second place behind Piastri after aborting his final lap as he started running wide in Turn 2.

Victory in Sunday’s race would give Norris his first world title no matter where his rivals finish, but if he crosses the finish line behind Piastri, the championship battle will move to the final race in Abu Dhabi.

Norris said his mistake was even more disappointing knowing that he had improved his performance after sprint qualifying on Friday evening.

“(I’m) very disappointed,” he told Sky Sports. “Yesterday (in sprint qualifying) I didn’t feel like I had the pace for pole but today I felt a lot more comfortable.

“I was sure I would have been on pole, but now I’m not, very disappointed with myself because of that, especially as my Qualis have been quite strong recently.

Norris continued, “I think I can’t always be great and can’t always be on pole, but today was a missed opportunity for me.” “But the focus is on tomorrow.”

After the top three drivers finished Saturday’s sprint race where they started, Norris said he was not optimistic about his chances of overtaking Piastri on Sunday.

“I’m in second place, so I don’t have much chance of winning at this point,” he said. “But yes, I just focus on trying to get a good start.

“One has to run a long way to stand a good chance of gaining or losing position.

“Otherwise, other than that, I think it’s going to be a pretty boring and straight race.”

Asked how he would sleep knowing he had the chance to clinch his first F1 title on Sunday, Norris joked: “Hopefully bad, because usually the worse I sleep, the better off I am!”