Hungaroring, Saturday, 22 July

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Team Principal Andrea Stella after qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“If you’re doing within a tenth of pole, it feels like you should be on pole if you put the lap together, but I guess as an overall picture, the team did a good job: P3 and P4 for both of us.  

“So, a good weekend so far but, as a driver, I’m not the happiest. I feel like I made too many mistakes here and there and that cost me today. There are always little things. Just putting the lap together. It wasn’t the cleanest. I guess there’s always an element of risk involved in trying to push it a little bit more – but nothing major. P3 is still a good position for tomorrow. So, still a good day.   

“I’m excited. I think the race pace yesterday was pretty strong. Just as strong as we were at Silverstone, so I’m excited. It’s just a difficult track to overtake – which is probably why I’m a bit more frustrated than I normally would be – but I’m up there with the good guys. We’ve got two cars up there, so hopefully we can use them and get some good points tomorrow.   

“We did a good job today. Tonight, we focus for tomorrow.” 

“P4, so I’m happy to be at the front, definitely. I think in Q3 it wasn’t my best performance, but it was enough to be on the second row. So, we’ll see what we can do tomorrow. It’s been a very encouraging day for the team, to still be at the front at a very different circuit. So, full credit to the team in giving us these opportunities. I’ll try to make sure I’m a little bit more polished next time, but it’s still a nice place to be, in P4.” 

“A positive day for McLaren, with Lando in P3 and Oscar P4 at the end of what was an interesting qualifying session with the new ATA format. Both drivers drove very well in tricky conditions, due to a slippery and windy track, and were able to capitalise on the hard work of the team, here at the track and back at the MTC. The Hungaroring, with some more low-speed sections and high temperatures, is different to the previous two circuits, and this performance looks like confirmation of the step forward we have made. Now, focus is on being as prepared as possible for the race tomorrow.”