Lando Norris says he is hoping for a “bad night’s sleep” as he aims to seal his first F1 world title on Sunday at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Norris will start the penultimate race of the season from second on the grid, behind pole-sitter and closest title rival Oscar Piastri, with Max Verstappen third. If Norris finishes ahead of Verstappen and outscores Piastri by at least four points he will become world champion with a race to spare; a victory on Sunday would guarantee the title.
F1 Drivers’ Championship – top three
1) Lando Norris — McLaren — 396
2) Oscar Piastri — McLaren — 374
3) Max Verstappen — Red Bull — 371
Asked by Sky Sports F1 how he would sleep, Norris said: “Hopefully bad! The worse I sleep the better I do!”
Norris had provisional pole after the first Q3 runs but Piastri reclaimed it with a final flying lap. Norris aborted his last attempt after he understeered wide at Turn Two. He explained: “Turn One was much better. I felt like I was a tenth up but at Turn Two I’m not sure. I don’t know if the wind changed. I just got pushed into a small understeer and that cost me. I had to abort the lap. I was going to go off the track, and I didn’t want to damage the floor. Pretty disappointed. I’m convinced I would have been on pole but I’m not now! I can’t always be great and on pole but there was an opportunity on Saturday. It’s over now and our focus is on the race.”
Starting second puts Norris on the “dirty” side of the grid — the side drivers don’t use on a normal lap — which has less grip. Norris, who started second in the 2023 Qatar GP Sprint and fell to sixth, said: “We will see how my start is. Hopefully they clean the right side a bit more! I will just have to maximise what I’ve been doing. It’s a long run. There are always opportunities but I don’t think it will be a race full of opportunities. Hopefully I’m proved wrong and it’s a chaotic race.”
Jamie Chadwick of Sky Sports F1 noted that support races and the Sprint may mean the dirty-side disadvantage is smaller than expected: “I think now we have had a lot of support races, we had the F1 Sprint so it might not be as much of a factor as we think.”
Piastri dominated Saturday’s Sprint and will be looking to repeat that on Sunday to take points out of Norris’ lead. The Australian said: “Keeping the lead helps a lot in terms of the clean air. Everything was under control in the Sprint, so I will try to get a good start again and hopefully more of the same.”
Verstappen, who needs to finish ahead of Norris to keep his own title hopes alive, said he will need “a bit of luck” and highlighted the importance of the start: “The start can be quite important. We will try to have a good one but, at the same time, you never know what happens in a race. Some things are not in your control. Some crazy things can happen behind you, so you need to keep everything open.”
Overtaking at Losail has proved difficult: Piastri won seven of the last eight races this season from pole, and high-speed corners combined with dirty air make following and passing challenging. Tyre concerns have led to a 25-lap limit on each set, meaning teams must run a minimum of two pit stops during the race.
Sky Sports F1’s Qatar GP schedule (UK)
11.55am: F2 Feature Race
2.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday build-up (Sky Sports F1)
4.00pm: The Qatar Grand Prix (race start)
6.00pm: Chequered Flag reaction
7.00pm: Ted’s Notebook
Formula 1’s title fight continues at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday at 4pm (build-up from 2.30pm), live on Sky Sports F1.