McLaren’s Lando Norris admits he ‘let the team down’ with ‘silly’ Q1 mistake

McLaren’s Lando Norris expressed remorse for a “silly” mistake that led to a poor qualifying run at the Portuguese Grand Prix, conceding that he had “let the team down.”

The British driver was eliminated in the first phase of qualifying at Portimao, failing to make the cut for Q2 by a margin of less than a tenth of a second.

“It was a silly mistake from me,” said Norris. “I’ve got to try to learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The 20-year-old was contrite in his post-qualifying comments, recognizing that his error had cost the team valuable points.

“It’s a shame for the whole team because, as I said, it was my mistake and I let them down.”

Norris has been a crucial part of McLaren’s resurgence this season, and his mistake on Saturday was out of character for a driver who has generally been very consistent in qualifying this season.

“It was a really small mistake, but it had a big effect,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve got to look at and learn from.”

Norris will now line up in 15th place on the grid for Sunday’s race, a position he will be keen to capitalize on to make up for his Q1 mistake.

The McLaren driver offered a candid assessment of his performance in qualifying, admitting that he had let the team down and vowing to learn from his mistake.