“The car has been feeling great all weekend,” claims Norris after grabbing pole for Spa race

Having bounced back from a difficult Friday’s qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, McLaren’s Lando Norris claims that his car “has been feeling great all weekend.”

Norris slightly struggled on Friday to match his team-mate Oscar Piastri’s pace, and finished third behind the Australian and the reigning champion Max Verstappen.

However, the Briton looked more competitive in the standard qualifying session. He went quickest in Q1 before his team-mate set the pace in Q2.

However, it was Norris who went quickest during the opening laps of Q3 on a lap of 1m 40.562s – a time that remained fastest across the final runs.

Speaking of his qualifying, Norris stated: “Obviously, good enough for pole. I felt like my second one, I improved, just the lap time didn't. So maybe a little bit more out there, but I think nice improvement from yesterday.

“Just nice to be in a better position in the pack and be out there again. So, a good day. The car's been feeling great all weekend, so it's nice to have a one-two.

“I just think there were a couple of corners that I must have gone slower, I guess. I don't know why. I don't see if I'm going quicker or not on my lap. Maybe Turn 1, I hit the kerb a little bit, and it's a long run after Turn 1, so probably cost myself a little bit there.

“And the last corner, a bit too much kerb in both of them, and I probably lost, I mean, we're talking half a tenth, touch more, and I go slower. We're talking small margins, but yeah, that's it.”

Asked to describe a pole lap around the iconic Spa-Francorchamps, Norris noted: “I think what feels nice here quite often is just when you put a new set of tyres on, it's a good step of grip.

“There’s no more pressure it just feels like you can push that 1-2% more, and that's always a good feeling. You have Turn 9, 5-6-7, you have Pouhon, 12-13, all corners which are pretty damn quick.

“You try to get that balance perfect with the car, getting the lifts right. A lot of it's about timings and just getting things nailed in terms of timing. It's a fun track. No matter how good you do, you always go into the last chicane and think, ‘Okay, just get this bit right’.

“It's a fun track in any car. I've driven here since Formula 4, quite a bit slower in that, but in Formula 1, it's good fun. It always puts a smile on your face during qualifying, especially when you can be on top.”

Signing off with a word for his expectations for Sunday’s race, Norris added: “It's probably going to rain. I don't know much more than that. We'll wait and see.

"It's Spa, so high chance of rain, but that can also mean it just sometimes hits half the track and the other half stays dry. Could be in for a Silverstone-esque chaotic race, similar to Australia or Silverstone, the ones that are sometimes a bit in the middle.

“Most likely some rain and drizzle. Hard to know. We're going off the front, so hopefully, I can make an advantage of that and clean air and go from there.”