‘I’ve got to take it on the chin’ – Norris reflects on his Q3 crash in Saudi Arabia as he apologises to team

Lando Norris has admitted he will take his Qualifying crash for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix “on the chin”, as the McLaren driver is set to start Sunday’s race from 10th on the grid.

The Drivers’ Championship leader entered Qualifying at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as one of the favourites for pole after the Briton and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri dominated practice throughout the weekend in Jeddah.

MUST SEE: Norris dramatically crashes out of Q3 in Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying

Norris continued to show impressive speed during the opening two Qualifying segments, finishing second in the former and topping the latter by 0.048s from Max Verstappen under the floodlights.

But while Piastri provisionally went fastest in Q3, Norris tagged the kerb on the exit of the high-speed left of Turn 4, unsettling the car which sent him to the outside and into the barrier through the following right.

Having confirmed he was “okay” over the radio, Norris followed it up with “idiot” as the session was place under a red flag, with Max Verstappen eventually taking a sensational pole from Piastri at the chequered flag.

"[The team] have got a lot of work to do sadly,” said Norris when asked how he will bounce back from another setback.

READ MORE: Verstappen clinches stunning pole position in Saudi Arabia as Norris crashes out in dramatic Qualifying

“It’s been such a smooth, positive weekend so far, so we’re disappointed to have such a big setback but I’ve got to take it on the chin. I apologised to the team, to my mechanics and the engineers and try and go again tomorrow. The car's quick, the car's been good all weekend so [I] have to think hard to overtake the cars tomorrow.”

Norris’ crash underlines another difficult weekend that has placed the McLaren driver under further scrutiny, having only qualified sixth in Bahrain before making a starting procedure error that led to a five-second penalty before eventually salvaging third.

When asked whether his strong form during the practice sessions in Jeddah offered much encouragement for the race, Norris said: “I think a good amount but as Oscar showed we’re not head and shoulders above the rest.

“George [Russell] is only a tenth off and Max [Verstappen] is on pole so I don’t expect to get to the top few but there’s definitely a few cars ahead that we need to finish ahead of so if we can aim for a top five or something then I’ll be happy.”

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