Lando Norris delivers Belgian GP prediction after grid penalty setback

Lando Norris has expressed confidence he can quickly recover up the pecking order as he faces a mid-pack start at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Norris ended Saturday's qualifying outing around Spa-Francorchamps in third place, his highest position since F1's trip to Canada in May. 

However, it is not a position he will keep hold of for the start of the race due to a grid penalty for taking on power unit components outside his season allowance.

Norris is set to start Sunday's grand prix from 13th, his lowest position since the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

When asked if he is approaching the race any differently, Norris told media including RacingNews365: “Honestly, it’s not too different. 

“You’re trying to do your best in every race. You put together as many good plans as you can. 

“Clearly, the pace is pretty good. It’s close, so it’s not like we’re easily going to be able to get back in the fight with the top group. 

“But, of course, a good start and a good first lap can easily get me back where I want to be quickly.”

Despite the long straights on offer around the Spa-Francorchamps track, Norris is not expecting overtaking to be easy.

However, Norris is confident he can use the superior pace of his McLaren to at least clear the midfield cars around him early on.

“From then on, it just depends on how easy overtaking is or how difficult it is,” he said. 

“I don’t think it’s going to be crazy easy, but there are a lot of possibilities. Honestly, it’s not that different because you do your best in every race. You’re always attacking. 

“For me, that’s always what works best. I guess we’ll probably come up with a few more scenarios. If overtaking is easy or hard, and we can’t get back into the top six, seven or eight that quickly, what else can we do to bring us back into the fight? 

“But apart from that, I’m confident we’ll be able to get up there pretty quickly.”