Norris “not expecting a very easy race” despite second consecutive pole

Lando Norris insists he will not have an easy Italian Grand Prix on Sunday despite securing his second consecutive pole since the summer break.

Norris described his pole position lap at the end of Q3 as “shit” before his team told him he had secured the top spot. Despite taking McLaren’s third pole in the last four rounds, Norris insisted that McLaren had not expected to be the best performing team in the field heading into qualifying.

“To have two cars first and second when the field has been as tight as it has all weekend is a little bit of a surprise, but a nice one,” Norris said. “So a big well done to the team, they’ve done an amazing job.

“Honestly, my lap was – it hurts me to say – not a great lap. My Q3-run-one was, but run two was a little bit more [compromised] and was still good enough for pole. So a little bit surprised again, but very, very happy.”

After winning last weekend in Zandvoort by over 20 seconds, Norris says achieving the same result on Sunday “would be lovely,” but he does not expect to have enjoy the same advantage as he did a week ago.

“Like we’ve seen all weekend, it’s so close,” he said. “There’s a lot of very quick drivers behind in quick cars, so I’m not expecting a very easy race tomorrow.

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“A lot of unknown things going into the race with the degradation, the tyres, the Tarmac. So plenty of question marks and plenty of excitement, I’m sure.”

Piastri says he will be looking to try and secure a better result than last weekend in Zandvoort, when he dropped from third to fourth in the race.

“Starting a bit further up the front than last week is definitely a positive for myself,” said Piastri.

“It’s obviously a long run down to turn one, so starting second here is not always the worst thing. But let’s see what the tyres do tomorrow. It’s been a little bit different to what we’re used to in Monza, so it could be a pretty exciting race and with such a a tight field at the front, I think it will be very exciting.”

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