Lando Norris was pleased to see George Russell secure his first F1 pole position, and joked that he had stolen the McLaren driver's thunder. Mercedes' Russell took a surprise Hungarian Grand Prix pole position, which went against the predictions of Ferrari setting the pace at the Hungaroring. His first F1 pole position came after 72 Grands Prix, and after just 12 races with the Mercedes team. Norris, who took his first F1 pole position at last season's Russian GP, gave a tongue-in-cheek response when congratulating his fellow former F2 competitor. "A very good day for us; a little bit disappointed that George has taken a little bit of my glory away!" Norris quipped to Sky Sports F1 . "But I'm very happy for him, his first pole in Formula 1, so congrats to him. "It was a strong day, and we're ahead of the guys we want to be ahead of. P4 is very strong for us, and on a track which isn't easy to overtake on, and I hope that's the case tomorrow."
Norris buoyed by better understanding of MCL36
Norris was able to secure one of his best qualifying results of the season, and his best since the Emilia Romagna GP. With teammate Daniel Ricciardo also securing a Q3 outing for the first time since the Canadian GP, McLaren look well-placed to score points in Hungary. Norris commented that the team's understanding of the McLaren MCL36 has improved over the course of the season, and their knowledge of where they're weaker than rivals Alpine. "We were not far off pole. Considering where we were at the beginning of the season, I'm very happy with that," added Norris. "If we look back to last week, Alpine were the quicker car still, but I think this weekend our car has worked well straight from the off, and is performing in a strong place. "I think that has allowed us to understand even more how and where it performs very well, and where it doesn't perform so well. I think that's clear for us now. "The slow-speed corners are where we struggle, and where Alpine are very strong. They're even strong in medium- and high-speed corners; they just have a good car all-round really."
Most read
