Lando Norris falls foul of track limits in Emilia-Romagna GP qualifying and loses third on Imola grid

By James Galloway

Last Updated: 17/04/21 2:52pm

Lando Norris was close to taking his first top three in qualifying but his Imola qualifying lap exceeded track limits.

Lando Norris admitted he was “pretty annoyed with myself” for the track limits transgression on his final lap that cost him a career-best third in Emilia Romagna GP qualifying.

Playing a starring role for McLaren throughout Saturday’s action at Imola, Norris briefly put himself into second place on the timesheet just behind Lewis Hamilton with a stunning lap of 1:14.454

But the lap was swiftly deleted by race control after Norris ran too wide out of the chicane. Had the 1:14.454 lap stood, Norris would have split the Red Bulls in third place. Instead, he will start behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in seventh.

Norris’ could not hide his frustration after, telling Sky F1 he was “pretty disappointed, pretty annoyed with myself”.

“It was a very good day until then,” he said.

“The team did an awesome job. The car really came alive in qualy, we made a lot of improvements in Friday, and that one lap that I don’t need to make a mistake on I messed it all up.

He added: “It’s the same for everyone. At the end of the day, it’s my mistake and I’ve messed it up. From the outside it looks a lot easier to just stay within the lines than what it is inside [the car].”