Lando Norris admitted he is “paying the price for not doing a good enough job” after McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri raised the championship stakes by taking pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Norris arrived for the second round of the season in Shanghai leading the title race for the first time in his life.
But after he made two mistakes in qualifying for Saturday’s sprint event – and then ran off the road on the first lap of the dash to the chequered flag to finish only eighth – he will start third for Sunday’s main event.
Piastri landed the first pole of his career as Mercedes’ George Russell split the two McLaren drivers to take second.
Max Verstappen will line up from fourth, one place ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
Norris laid down a title marker with a statement win in Melbourne a week ago, but the 25-year-old said here: “I am not as comfortable as I was in Australia. It is just too many mistakes and I have not done the best job. And Oscar has.
“Our car is the quickest one but it is still tricky to drive and putting a lap together is hard to do on a consistent basis. I have a long night ahead of me to look at the data and see where I can improve tomorrow.
“I have not done a perfect job, the field is tight, and I am paying the price for not doing a good enough job.”
Norris has been talked up as the early title favourite following his season-opening win in Melbourne. McLaren also hold an advantage over the rest of the field.
Indeed Russell claimed earlier this week that the British team should win every race this season with a car he believes is superior to the Red Bull which won all but one in 2023.
In qualifying, Norris trailed Piastri by 0.090 sec heading into the final runs. But as Piastri then extended his advantage, Norris aborted his second lap, ending the session a tenth and a half adrift of his team-mate.
To make matters worse for Norris, he was usurped by Russell in the closing moments.
“It is a big surprise,” said Russell, who finished just 0.082 sec behind Piastri.
“I am proud to be between the two McLarens because we know how quick they are. But it will be a stretch to match them in the race because they are still a step ahead of everybody.”
Following his impressive first win in Ferrari colours in Saturday’s earlier sprint race, Hamilton trailed Piastri by 0.286 sec in qualifying.
But he still managed to finish ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, who will start sixth.
Liam Lawson’s miserable start to his Red Bull career continued when he could finish only 20th and last, a day after he suffered the same fate in qualifying for the sprint race.
Ollie Bearman also failed to progress to the second phase and will line up from 17th on Sunday.
