Lando Norris: I piloted worse than I had to

In Melbourne, none of the McLaren drivers could reach the qualifying final, although Lando Norris came close to this, but said he made mistakes because he attacked too aggressively.

Lando Norris (13th): “I was about to go off the track too many times, but it was because I attacked too aggressively. It’s just that in order to make it to the final of qualifying, I have to create something like a miracle. That’s what I tried to do, but each time I found myself pushing the limits of the possible.

In general, it was not easy, although I expected a slightly better result. I think there was still an opportunity to perform a little better, but to be honest, I piloted worse than I should have, so I’m not completely happy with myself, but the situation is as it is.

The result was the result of several factors. I overdid it in one corner, which led to a mistake, although the rest of the circle was riding well. On the next lap I couldn’t handle another corner very well – I just couldn’t put it all together. Now I even think I should not have attacked at full strength, but maybe only at 95%.

As soon as I tried to get closer to the limit, I immediately went over this limit. I think I just need to be more precise about where that line is.”

Oscar Pistri (16th): “For the decisive attempt, we slightly changed the angle of attack of the front wing, and apparently this was not the best solution, not suitable for a situation where the track condition was getting better and better. In addition, my lack of experience probably also affected my work.

While I can’t say we’ve had any serious problems because of this, it’s unlikely we’ve lost that much to setup failures. Also on my last lap there were some problems with traffic, although no more than other riders on the track at the time.

All weekend I missed a lap to get the rubber running properly, because it’s been pretty cold here all those days. In addition, it is influenced by the characteristics of the route and the nature of the asphalt surface.

It seems to me that many riders also tried to warm up the tires in two laps, but the red flags appeared on the track at the most inopportune moment and it will no longer be possible to do two fast laps in one set. However, I still believe that we acted correctly, but we simply did not have enough speed.