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Former F1 champion Nico Rosberg showered praise on Lando Norris despite the McLaren driver losing pole position to Max Verstappen for the Abu Dhabi GP. Norris was struggling to get to grips with his MCL39 since the start of qualifying.
The championship leader was beaten by both his title rivals, teammate Oscar Piastri and Verstappen, in Q1. He feared getting eliminated in Q1 if he put a foot wrong, and as a result, he was over-cautious on his final flying lap in that session, which turned out to be over half a second slower than Piastri.
However, it was good enough to help him get to Q2, where he showed better pace, but still didn't seem comfortable navigating the Yas Marina circuit at his best, and remained slower than his teammate. However, Lando Norris showed why he's the championship leader when it mattered in Q3.
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Though he eventually turned out to be two-tenths slower than pole-sitter Max Verstappen, his final lap time of 1:22.408 was better than Oscar Piastri's 1:22.437. Nico Rosberg was impressed by Norris' turnaround from Q1 to Q3.
"The thriller remains open," Rosberg told Sky Sports. "I would like to give my respect to Lando Norris. The whole qualifying, things were not going his way. Somehow, the whole thing was a struggle. But when it mattered at the end, he pulled out a beautiful lap to put himself on the front row."
"The pressure would have been insane at that last moment, especially when you feel things are not going perfectly, even a Russell can threaten you. He did an amazing job, Lando, in the end. A perfect job."
George Russell could've been the surprise package for the front row for the Abu Dhabi GP. The Mercedes driver was quickest in Q1. Unfortunately, he had a big snap at the final corner of his last flying lap in Q3, which made him four-tenths slower overall, but was good enough for P4.
Lando Norris 'disappointed' over losing out pole to Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi
After securing his position on the front row for the season finale in Abu Dhabi, Lando Norris admitted that McLaren just wasn't quick enough in qualifying. The Yas Marina Circuit has been one of the better tracks for the Briton, as Carlos Sainz also affirmed coming into the weekend.
Norris' practice results leaned towards a confirmation of this feeling, but qualifying was a bit volatile for him. Summing up his feelings in the post-qualifying FIA press conference, the championship leader said (via F1TV):
"I think Q1, Q2, not the smoothest. Q3 lap, I was happy with. I felt pretty good. I felt I got a lot out of the car today, but it wasn't enough. So I was disappointed. I just wanted to be on pole for the final race of the year."
"We just didn't have the pace today, so I felt we got the maximum out of the car, and I have to be happy with that. I was behind the one person I wanted to be ahead of. That's the only reason for the disappointment. Otherwise, I was pretty happy with my laps," he added.
The last ten F1 races in Abu Dhabi have been won by the driver who started on pole, a stat that plays in Max Verstappen's favor. However, all Lando Norris needs is to simply finish on the podium, and the 2025 drivers' championship would be his, irrespective of where Verstappen or Piastri finish.
