Lando Norris explains 'frustrating' element in qualifying 'shame'

Lando Norris has conceded it is a "shame" to miss out on pole position for the Miami Grand Prix, despite a marked improvement on his recent qualifying form.

The British driver labelled it the "only frustrating bit" of his session, and will line up for the full-distance race in Florida alongside Max Verstappen on the front row.

Aided by the inside line, it provides the McLaren driver ample opportunity to emulate Oscar Piastri's Saudi Arabian move on the Dutchman going into the first corner.

The 25-year-old needs a strong result after back-to-back grand prix victories for his team-mate. Although, his fortunate sprint win at the Miami International Circuit has reduced the championship standings deficit to just nine points.

His qualifying performance in the Sunshine State ends Norris' run of being out-qualified by the Australian, who lines up fourth, but the five-time grand prix winner felt after the session that it could have been more.

When asked in front of media, including RacingNews365, if he could visualise where the lap time went, he replied: "Yes, I can."

Having missed out on pole to Verstappen by just over half-a-tenth of a second, Norris was probed on whether the time was lost at Turn 17, the final corner of any real consequence in Miami.

"Yep. You got it right," he responded, having been shown on broadcast bouncing over the inside kerb. "Yeah. I just didn't quite put it together, but that's it."

Norris: 'Maybe not quite there yet...'

It is, nonetheless, a considerable step forward from the grid-setting efforts the McLaren driver managed in Bahrain and at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

At the former, a scruffy lap left him to fight back from sixth at the start, whilst a heavy Q3 crash at the latter saw him qualify tenth.

When queried as to how encouraging his Miami one-lap comeback was, Norris agreed. He replied: "Very. I'm very happy with the end result. Just a shame when you miss out on pole, so that's the only frustrating bit.

"But I think I've been trying different things, I've been doing different things with the team to try and work a bit more in this area and things have been taking a step forward.

"So I'm happy. Maybe not quite there yet, but happy with the progress."