Lando Norris 'pretty shocked' by British Grand Prix qualifying

Lando Norris was left 'pretty shocked' by the first session of qualifying for the British Grand Prix ahead of landing third on the grid at Silverstone. Following a crash for Alpine's Franco Colapinto, the remaining 19 drivers were covered by just seven-tenths of a second at the end of Q1, underlining the fine margins on show around Silverstone. The top-10 shoot-out was then a captivating affair, with Norris denied by McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, and ultimately Red Bull's four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen at the death to finish two-tenths of a second adrift of the Dutchman in third. "A good qualifying," said Norris. "I'm not going to be unhappy with third. I'd love to have been on top here at Silverstone, but Max did a good job. Not quick enough today but a fun qualifying. Flying around here is pretty fast, not the top, but still okay." Assessing what made the difference, he added: "Little things put you ahead or behind. We saw how close Q1 was, which was pretty shocking but good at the same time. "But little margins, little mistakes, little things, a couple of hundredths can win or lose you the game. [It was] Tough with the wind conditions, a little bit of rain here and there, but still all good fun, and so I'm happy with third." As to the fight ahead with Piastri and Verstappen, he said: "I think it's going to be fun tomorrow. "I think it's going to be a good battle between the three of us, probably more, with Lewis, Charles and George behind as well. It's going to be an interesting Sunday. So I'm looking forward to it." Russell starts fourth in his Mercedes ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc in fifth and sixth in their Ferraris.