Lando Norris shares 'unfortunate' emotion despite qualifying result boost

Lando Norris has admitted it is “unfortunate” that he will not be able to start the Belgian Grand Prix from inside the top three due to his grid penalty.

Like several others this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, Norris has taken on engine components outside of the usable allowance for the season.

It means that he will be demoted 10 places on the starting grid for Sunday's grand prix, leaving him in 13th.

McLaren has not been a competitive outfit across the last handful of rounds, but Norris' lap marked a strong step forward in terms of pure pace.

“We've not really changed anything, we're just a bit quicker on this track,” Norris said.

“It's nice to be standing here, just not nice knowing we have to go 10 places back tomorrow.

“Unfortunate that this isn't where we're starting tomorrow, because it would be nice to have a little fight with these guys.

“But we made the most of it, it was still a very good qualifying, a very good lap for me.”

It is just the second time this year that Norris has qualified inside the top three.

And with close family ties to Belgium, Norris is hopeful it will give him a boost to move forward on Sunday.

“I've been pretty happy all weekend,” he said. “It's a little bit of a home race for me. 

“So it's always a little boost here, and I performed well all weekend so far. 

“So hopefully, we can still have a good race and we can have some fun.”