Norris is "very proud" of his qualifying performance at Monte Carlo

On the back of his faultless drive at the Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren driver Lando Norris revealed that he is "very proud" of his performance in the Monaco qualifying session as he has struggled to extract his car's full potential in recent qualifying sessions.

Although Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc dominated the practice sessions at the Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri picked up the pace in qualifying.

The Briton set the benchmark in the middle part of qualifying before posting a track record in Q3 en route to a brilliant pole position in the Principality.

His team-mate Piastri was unable to put a perfect lap together when it really mattered, and ended up third on the grid behind the Ferrari of Leclerc.

Despite the introduction of a mandatory two-stop strategy for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix, Lando Norris controlled proceedings in the 78-lap race to snatch his first victory in the Principality from home favourite Charles Leclerc.

On the back of several tough weekends, Norris revealed that he is "very proud" of his performance in the Monaco qualifying as he has struggled to extract his car's full potential in recent qualifying sessions.

"I mean, people can write what they want. It’s not up to me. People have their own opinions, they can do all of those things. Thing is, none of them are true, 99% of the time. So, it’s all crap. I don’t mind what people write as long as I know the truth and my team know the truth, and that’s fine.

"I’ve been working hard over the last few months to get back to having that momentum that I had in Australia, that confidence. What I felt this weekend was a small step forward, but it’s not it. It’s not like I’ve nailed it now and everything’s back.

"There are still things that I need to work on, there are still things that – as a team – them giving me the equipment – and I don’t mean just making a quicker car, because the car’s quick enough – but giving me the things I need from the car in order to excel and maximise results, and the differences from last year to this year. So, still things from both sides, but I’m very proud of yesterday.

"I’m happier with yesterday’s result than I am of today’s. I mean, today is incredible, but I was more emotional yesterday than I was today. That’s how much yesterday meant to me, to kind of get my groove back in qualifying, because it’s something I’ve just had my whole life. It’s just always been good, until this year.

His triumph in Monaco saw Norris get himself within just three points from championship leader Oscar Piastri. Asked whether this result feels like a bit of a kind of hitting the reset button on the championship, Norris said that he will need to perform at "the highest level" given the tough competition at the sharp end of the field.

"And I’ve had to work hard to try and get it back. For no other reason apart from a couple of things that I’ve clearly struggled with and also just having tough competition. Having Oscar, Charles, Max, I’m against the best guys in the world. And if you’re not performing at the highest level, you’re not going to compete against them.

"So, yeah, no one knows the amount of work and effort that goes into things apart from me and my team. And that’s the only people who need to know what goes into everything and know the truth of everything. And that’s the way it will stay," concluded Norris.