McLaren Best Of The Rest In Monza Qualifying

Mediaon September 11, 2021

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With Lando Norris in P4 and Daniel Ricciardo in P5, McLaren was the ‘best of the rest’ in qualifying for tomorrow’s Sprint Race at the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2021.

Lando Norris

“I’m satisfied with today – we’re back in a much better position after last weekend, and we seem much more competitive. I think it’s the perfect start to the weekend. There was a possibility of being P3 if I’d put the lap completely together – but one small mistake, I think, cost us. It’s a bit of a shame that I missed out on it, but fourth still puts us in a very good position compared to the people we’re really racing against and battling with this weekend and for the Championship. I’m happy – and it’s a good way to bounce back after last week.”

Daniel Ricciardo

“From a general standpoint, I’m happy. We were fast and were fighting for top three on the grid, so I’m happy we had the potential to do that. But I’m so frustrated that we got that close but not quite close enough. It was more of a tease than anything, but it’s all good.

“I think the team performance was great. We didn’t put ourselves in a difficult situation with any of the out-laps and I was in the right places in terms of track position, we had good tows. My only frustration is that it’s so close and, unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the milliseconds. It is what it is and I’m now looking forward to the racing.”

Andrea Stella

“One aspect of the Sprint Qualifying format is that it allows us to see where we are much earlier in the weekend. Today, we found out that we’re competitive at this track, and expect it to be better for our car than Zandvoort was. We had a difficult event last weekend, so it’s encouraging that we could bounce back immediately and put ourselves in a good position to score well here at Monza. There’s a lot to do before that, with Sprint Qualifying tomorrow following a final practice session. We need to keep working hard, keep thinking and optimise all of the variables still within our control to ensure we can maximise our opportunity.”