Lando Norris believes a mistake cost him the chance to secure top spot for the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint. The McLaren driver was just 0.082secs off McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, with the pair locking out the front row ahead Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Norris was close to taking pole in the dying moments, but oversteer at the last corner sent him wide and cost him crucial time to Piastri. It comes after his lap was deleted for track limits in Friday's qualifying for the Grand Prix, which got him demoted from the second on the grid. "Happy for the team, I'm happy for Oscar, but I did another bad job," said Norris. "Should have been pole yesterday, should have been pole today, but I'm not."
Norris: Mistakes costing easy run to pole
Norris was not the only driver to fall foul of the strict track limits being enforced with both Verstappen and Charles Leclerc having lap times deleted for running off track. But the Briton felt there was more on the table, after missing out for a second time the weekend. "It's just mistakes, not putting the lap together when I need to. Easily quick enough for pole, I just didn't put it together at all," he added. "Oscar did a good job, Max has done a good job, so frustrating because the car is quick enough. "The team is doing an excellent job, but I'm just not delivering on what I need to do."
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