Belgian GP qualifying, Norris takes swipe at doubters after taking pole from Piastri, rookie in tears

Lando Norris has taken a swipe at his critics after he secured a major advantage from teammate Oscar Piastri for the Belgian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris said he had not lost any confidence in his ability to outpace McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri after he bounced back on Saturday to claim pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old Briton, who was beaten by series leader Piastri in Friday’s sprint qualifying, said it was tough for both McLaren drivers as they battle for supremacy in their intra-team rivalry — and slug it out for the drivers’ world championship.

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After 12 of this year’s 24 races, Piastri leads with 241 points and five wins ahead of Norris on 232 and four wins.

Defending four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull is third on 173 after two Grand Prix wins.

Norris, who is chasing a third consecutive Grand Prix win on Sunday to overhaul the 24-year-old Australian, admitted he was aware that “everyone was worried” after Friday when he was three-tenths slower.

“I wasn’t that far off, but there were a couple of little issues and everyone was pretty worried,” he said.

“But I was confident after yesterday and I was confident coming into today so it’s nice to see that I could get back to the top.”

Watch Norris take pole position in the video above

Lando Norris qualified in pole position in Belgium.

Asked where his improvement came from, he said: “Three-tenths is just slipstream and not being the first out of the pit-lane.

“It was nothing to worry about, but people like to make a lot of things up. “I felt good and the car has been flying all weekend.” Norris has been accused of mental fragility and being over-sensitive to his own high expectations and media criticism.

He said that it was intense and challenging for both McLaren drivers to maintain a strong relationship as teammates while fighting for the drivers’ title.

“Oscar has been doing a good job all weekend and we’ve been pushing each other a lot,” said Norris.

“It’s tough because you see where your strengths and weaknesses are clearly — and then you learn from each other quickly. It’s good, but it’s a tough battle that we have at the minute.” Piastri agreed that maintaining a balanced approach was difficult.

“We’re a good teammate pairing and we learn a lot from each other each weekend. That’s what makes us a good team, but it also makes it difficult to fight each other.”

Norris said he wanted Sunday’s race to be run in dry conditions, despite forecast heavy rain for the Ardennes.

“I prefer it to stay dry honestly. For the fans! I think it’s rained here for the last 10 years or something so it would be nice to have a dry Sunday.”

Lando Norris (centre) got pole position from Oscar Piastri (right) and Charles Leclerc (left). Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)

It’s a blow to Piastri given overtaking has proven increasingly difficult in F1 this season, and it will take something special for him to pass Norris in the race.

Piastri set the track record for the fastest ever lap at Spa in sprint qualifying, but couldn’t quite match that pace in qualifying for the main race.

He was overtaken by Verstappen, who won the Sprint race before qualifying.

Rookie in tears after shocker

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli was emotional, wiping his eyes as he spoke to reporters after not making it out of the first qualifying session.

It was a tough result for the Italian teenager, who started the season extremely well to record a maiden podium.

“Just confidence, I think,” Antontelli said when asked what went wrong.

“It’d a difficult moment for me, I’m struggling to find confidence with the car. I just need to find light at the end of the tunnel again. I’m OK.”

But he will start frm the ninth row of the grid, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton also failed to make it out of Q3.

Belgian Grand Prix starting grid

1st row: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri

2nd row: Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen

3rd row: Alex Albon, George Russell

4th row. Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar

5th row: Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto

6th row: Esteban Ocon, Ollie Bearman

7th row: Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg

8th row: Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton

9th row: Franco Colapinto, Kimi Antonelli

10th row: Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll

Originally published as Belgian GP qualifying, Norris takes swipe at doubters after taking pole from Piastri, rookie in tears