Lando Norris stood by his description of himself as an “idiot” for crashing in qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, saying he had let McLaren down and now needed a “bit of luck” to even salvage a top-five race result.
The world championship leader’s hopes of bouncing back from his difficult weekend in Bahrain last week suffered a costly blow on Saturday under the Jeddah floodlights when he lost control of his car and hit the barriers five corners into his first flying lap of the decisive Q3 section.
The accident leaves Norris 10th on the grid on a wall-lined street circuit where overtaking is difficult.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri went on to qualify first and second respectively, with Norris’ predicament meaning one of the pair is now likely to usurp the Briton at the head of the title race for the first time this season on Sunday.
After crashing out, a frustrated Norris labelled himself a “******* idiot” over team radio – a snap verdict he later admitted was justified when he spoke to reporters on his return to the paddock.
“It makes sense,” said Norris, who qualified only sixth last Saturday before finishing third in Bahrain.
“Well, yeah, I agree with it. I should be fighting for pole and especially on a Q1 [sic] lap I shouldn’t be taking any silly risks like I seem to have done. I’m going to review it all, like I said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Norris suffered a massive crash in his McLaren during Q3 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
“Not a guarantee we would have been on pole because Max looks like he did a good job again. Red Bull were quick the whole of qualifying, it wasn’t a surprise. It would have been nice just to have been in that fight.”
Norris, who had set the pace in the preceding Q2 session, added: “I was doing well until then and feeling comfortable.
“But it makes sense [what he said], I shunted. Again, I’m not going to be proud, I’m not going to be happy. I’ve let myself down, I’ve let the team down and the guys have got a big job to do now to fix it all.
“So, yeah, that’s the way it is. I agree with I said but I still look forward to tomorrow and I have to try and make up for today.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights from qualifying at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
On the incident itself at the Turns four-five chicane, Norris said: I don’t know what happened.
“I’ve not had any time to look into it or see. Just a mistake, I guess. I don’t know what I could have done.
“It was pretty comfortable, I was pretty happy until then, the car was strong. So disappointed, it obviously made my life and everyone’s in the team a lot trickier and a lot harder because the guys have got a big job to try and fix everything.
“But that’s life. That happens on a rare occasion so a tough one. But we’ve got to look on the bright side and hope that we can have a good race.”
‘We’re going to need a bit of luck’ – Norris plays down top-five hopes
Norris, though, acknowledged that even finishing in the top five from the grid’s fifth row was not going to be straightforward given the nature of the fast 27-corner Jeddah street track.
“I mean I [will] go see my engineers and apologise and see what we can do for [Sunday],” he said.
“Try and put a good plan in place, but we’re going to need a bit of luck. It’s so difficult, it’s almost impossible to overtake around here so I’m not expecting anything magical, but we have a good car.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Norris was in despondent mood after crashing his McLaren during qualifying
“If we can work our way up to the top five, six, I would say I’ll be happy.
“You know, our car wasn’t on pole, our pace was clearly not that much better than Max, even George [Russell] is not that far away. So I think to get close to them is not very realistic but to try and get to the top five is probably our target.”
Norris’ title lead is just three points over team-mate Piastri, while Verstappen is eight points adrift of the Briton.
Piastri would assume the leadership of the world championship for the first time in his career were he to win Sunday’s race irrespective of where Norris finishes, while reigning champion Verstappen would be ahead for the first time in 2025 if he wins and Norris finishes third or lower.
Sky Sports F1’s Saudi Arabian GP Schedule
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit
Sunday April 20
- 1pm: F1 Academy Race 2
- 2.20pm: F2 Feature Race
- 4.30pm: Saudi Arabian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday
- 6pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX*
- 8pm: Saudi Arabian GP reaction: Chequered flag
*Also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 completes its first triple-header of 2025 in Jeddah with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
