Pole-sitter Lando Norris has insisted he doesn’t have a ‘point to prove’ in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, as Nico Rosberg claimed the pressure is on McLaren to convert a front-row lockout to victory.
Norris claimed his maiden Formula 1 win at the Miami Grand Prix in May but has failed to add to his tally despite being in genuine contention for victory at five of the six races that followed.
The Brit and his team faced criticism for failing to convert a lead in the closing stages at Silverstone to a home victory two weeks ago, but insists there will be no extra pressure at the Hungaroring on Sunday despite the buffer of his team-mate Oscar Piastri having beaten world championship leader Max Verstappen to second.
“I don’t think it’s, like, important,” Norris said after sealing the third pole position of his career.
“Every single qualifying is important and every race is important, so it’s not all of a sudden I need to do it and I need to prove my point. I don’t.
“We’ve done the best we’ve could every race. I think we’ve shown great pace and (had) great opportunities, and I know we’ve missed out on some but we don’t need to back it into all that stuff.”
With the season officially entering its second half this weekend at the 13th of 24 rounds, Norris trails Red Bull’s Verstappen by 84 points.
That margin could have been significantly smaller had Norris and McLaren maximised their potential over recent weeks, and also if it weren’t for a collision between the pair when battling for the lead in Austria, which Verstappen was penalised for but ultimately benefitted from as he finished fifth and the Brit retired.
McLaren are also well placed to close a 78-point deficit to Red Bull in the constructors’ standings’, which has been coming down largely due to the dismal form of Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, who crashed out of Q1 on Saturday.
Norris continued: “Every time we try to maximise every place, every point. The more we can try to get back on Max, the more we as a team can get on Red Bull and other constructors, the better.
“So there’s no point or emphasis on trying to beat a particular someone or something, it’s just go out and do what we do, because we’re doing a good job.”
Sky Sports F1 pundit and 2016 world champion Rosberg says the pressure is “ramping up” on McLaren now that they are regularly appearing to be the fastest car on the grid.
“The pressure is going onto McLaren because they are moving into the favourites role,” Rosberg said.
“When you are the favourite, that’s when the pressure ramps up massively. They have that now and all eyes on them for Sunday.
“Plus they can split the strategies a little as well, using Piastri perhaps if he manages to stay ahead of Verstappen after the first couple of corners.
“It’s theirs to lose, in theory.”
Sky Sports F1’s Naomi Schiff says that McLaren require “mental strength” to put their recent failures behind them on Sunday.
“You’ve got to have such mental strength because we know that they’ve made a few mistakes over a couple of grands prix this year already,” Schiff said.
“We’re almost sure they’ve had a strong talking to because you can’t just throw away race victories like they did in Silverstone and not get a strong talking to.
“If that’s too far engrained in their minds and they are going into it slightly cautiously on Sunday, that won’t be a great thing.
“They need to be strong about this. They need to be confident about their decision-making. This is theirs to win as much as it is to lose.”
Whether or not engaging in kidology to try and deflect the pressure and expectation away from his own team, McLaren chief Andrea Stella suggested to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying that it was Verstappen who actually remained the “favourite” for the 70-lap race.
“Max is always the challenge and not only the challenge, Max is always the reference,” suggested Stella.
“We will try our best and he remains the favourite for Sunday, but we will try to give it a go for the victory.”
Not that Verstappen himself saw it that way after McLaren had also set the pace on Friday.
“He must have seen a different timing sheet then!” responded the Dutchman.
And while far from ruling out his own chances of a third consecutive Hungarian GP triumph, Verstappen said he preferred to be “realistic than sitting here and spreading false hope” about Red Bull’s prospects.
“I don’t know. My long runs have been ok, but nothing special,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“Normally McLaren is even stronger in the race because that’s where I think their car really comes alive. So I don’t know, we’ll find out.
“It’s a lot warmer, I don’t know if that’s good or bad for us, but we’ll see.”
Having ensured McLaren achieved their first front-row lockout since the 2012 Brazilian GP by overhauling Verstappen with his second flying lap of Q3, Piastri could play a pivotal role in the outcome of the race.
The Australian, who is 47 points behind Norris in the championship, has yet to win a Grand Prix in his 18 months in F1 and is in no doubt he is “definitely free to win the race”.
He confirmed he would try and take any chances to seize the lead, although also suggested he was aware McLaren’s pit wall may talk tactics with the drivers if the team find themselves in a commanding position at some stage.
“If we’re in a controlled one-two at some point in the race then, of course, we’ll start having those discussions,” he said.
“But there are no team orders from before the race starts, that’s for sure.
“If I get an opportunity to get into the lead then I’m going to try and take it. Of course, it goes without saying that we need to keep both cars first and second. That’s the bare minimum really.”
Sunday July 21
7:20am: F3 Feature Race
9am: F2 Feature Race
11am: Porsche Supercup
12:30pm: Grand Prix Sunday – Hungarian GP build-up
2pm: The HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX
4pm: Chequered Flag: Hungarian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
Coverage of the Hungarian Grand Prix starts on Sky Sports F1 at 12.30pm on Sunday with lights out at 2pm. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
Three people with severely impaired vision who received stem-cell transplants have experienced substantial improvements in…
Experiments with mice have revealed the neuroscience of why dogs shake their wet fur.Credit: Nat…
Researchers have voiced concerns after South Africa updated its health-research ethics guidelines to include a…
From repealing climate policies to overturning guidance on the safe development of artificial intelligence (AI),…
The new app Forward SMS makes it simple to share that information with a team.…
Mission Produce claims to use "water resources effectively and efficiently" to "prevent water waste and…