Lando Norris makes 'tough' admission after latest costly error

Lando Norris has conceded he made life "very tough" for himself at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, after his qualifying shunt ruined his chances of victory.

It was a second-consecutive disappointing weekend for the McLaren driver, coming off the back of an underwhelming display at the Bahrain International Circuit.

At the previous round, a poor qualifying effort left him to recover from sixth on the grid to third, whilst in Jeddah, his Q3 crash meant he lined up in tenth.

He made his way back through the pack, ultimately finishing fourth. Despite being unable to get past Charles Leclerc for a podium finish, he was "happy enough" with his effort.

Norris was keen to stress, however, that although McLaren is "consistent" at the moment, the race was proof it is not as far clear of the competition than is often suggested.

"Clearly, that was just not an easy race," the 25-year-old told media including RacingNews365. "We look good, we're probably the most consistent team, but we're not quicker than the rest.

"And because of my mistakes, like yesterday and things like that, I paid the price, and I made my life very tough for myself, so I'm happy enough."

'Surprising' race pace

Norris crossed the line fewer than 10 seconds adrift of team-mate Oscar Piastri, who took victory, something that highlighted how "strong" the race pace was generally.

The five-time grand prix winner pointed out how the performance of the Ferrari ahead was "a little bit surprising", which, when coupled with the lack of degradation, meant he was unable to find a way by.

"Charles is quick," he said. "The pace was very strong to finish nine seconds off the lead. It was a little bit surprising...

"I was pushing as much as I could. I did everything, there's no degradation here, you just push flat out.

"In a way, it's why it's quite a boring race, because it's low deg. So it's a flat out race from lap 1 to lap 50, and makes it physically tough."