Norris doesn't know how he found sixt tenths for his last qualifying lap
Having put in a dominant performance in Saturday's qualifying session, McLaren driver Lando Norris admitted that he doesn't know how he found sixt tenths for his last qualifying lap.
McLaren driver Lando Norris looked untouchable in the third and final practice at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez, having topped the last hour of practice in style.
The Briton looked strong across qualifying, but he Ferrari managed to pose a challenge to the McLaren man in the final segment of qualifying. However, Norris duly delivered on his last lap, pulling out a special flying run to grab a first pole since Belgium.
His team-mate Oscar Piastri has struggled all weekend by comparison and qualifying day was no different, as he wound up a good few tenths back time and time again.
The Australian had to work hard to reach Q3, and even if he looked slightly more comfortable in his McLaren in the dying seconds of qualifying, he only ended up eighth quickest. The championship leader will inherit one place when Carlos Sainz serves his grid penalty.
Commenting on his qualifying performance, Norris added: "That's the confusing thing. I mean, obviously it was an incredible lap. I pushed the braking everywhere. I pushed the high speed a bit more and all those things.
"But I don't have a delta, so I didn’t know if I was up, if I was down, if it was good, bad, whatever. There were a couple of little places where I thought I messed up a touch and didn't get the best exits, like out of six, but the rest of it felt pretty decent. I was happy, but I thought I'd be more like a 15.9, 15.8.
"I thought if I'd get ahead of Charles, I'd be pretty happy. So when I saw 15.5 on my dash, it put a pretty big smile on my face because it was one of those laps which was — everything just came together in terms of feeling. It was very natural and similar to my lap in Monaco.
"A good feeling because it's been a while. It's not that often this year I get that feeling in this car, even with how quick it is. But yeah, happy because of this.
Asked to reveal how he found nearly six tenths between his first and second qualifying lap in the closing segment of qualifying, Norris struggled to find an answer.
"Honestly, I don't know. I have to go and see on the data. Like I said, I just pushed the braking in a few little places a bit more. Took a couple of bits more risk in the high speed. But yeah. Quite often, the laps I do best, I don't really know what's happened or how it's happened.
"Like I said on the radio to Will and Jarv, the less I know, the better I do normally on my quali laps. So it was one of them. But yeah, six tenths. I was surprised. I got a bit worried Q3 Run 1 when Charles did a 15.9. I was like, “damn, that’s a pretty impressive lap”. So, like I said, nice when I saw 15.5.
Norris continued: "I mean, maybe. It's tough because I do feel like I’m doing a very good job. I feel like I have been for a good amount of weekends now, especially when I get this feeling that I had today. Actually, the whole day today. It’s not just my Q3 lap that was good. FP3 was strong already and a good step better than it was yesterday.
"Q1, Q2, Q3 — all of my laps were good. No mistakes. No lock-ups. None of these things. And I could just, in a good way, improve. The car is incredibly quick, but it's not easy to drive. I think we both complained of that as drivers, but when you just get in that little bit of a rhythm, it's flying, and that’s where I was today.
Quali day thoughts 💭#McLaren | #MexicoGP 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/DTKiUNM2Nd
— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team (@McLarenF1) October 26, 2025
Asked whether he thinks the 71-lap encounter in Mexico could be a complicated race strategically, Norris added: "Potentially. I mean, obviously with the Hard being a step harder, that can change a few things. But the race last year was very nice and we were very confident.
"Our race pace was very strong with the Medium-Hard last year. So yeah, I don’t think we’re too worried about anything. I think the pace has still been decent, even with missing FP1 and just kind of getting that high fuel stuff in FP2. But you never know. Many things can happen around here.
"It’s a long race. Easy to make mistakes. A lot of overtaking opportunities, that kind of thing — but the pace is there. So as long as I get my head down and focus, then I’ll be fine.
