Lando Norris was hoping for a significantly better qualifying position ahead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Briton was perplexed by his lack of pace, noting that in qualifying, “Everyone always goes quicker, and I go slower.”

Lando Norris: Everyone always goes quicker, and I go slower

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix came to a close with McLaren’s Lando Norris on the outside of the top three looking in.

On his final lap in Q3, Norris lost three-tenths in sectors two and three, which meant he failed to improve on his first flying lap.

With Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen having already completed their laps, it left him third as the remainder of the field completed the session.

As it turned out, George Russell benefitted from outfitting his Mercedes with medium tyres in the final session after seeing how well that strategy worked for Aston Martin earlier in the day.

When he rose to third, Norris slipped to fourth.

The McLaren driver entered the F1 2025 season as an undoubted favourite for the title, but his pace in qualifying has fallen off. This weekend, he’ll be starting from outside the top three for the third time in four races.

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“I made a lot of mistakes,” Norris told media, including PlanetF1.com.

“It is just never good enough in my final lap in qualifying.

“Everyone always goes quicker, and I go slower, so it is just not good enough.

“[Nothing wrong] with the car, it’s on pole and the best car on track.”

The driver of the No. 4 McLaren has been hard on himself this year, and that was once again in evidence at Imola.

“I’m not just going to blame the car,” he said of is performance. “It’s on me.

“I’ve felt good all weekend. I felt good in Q1 and Q2, and I felt like there was lap time available.

“But when I try to go for the lap time, it just doesn’t go.

“A lot of things have changed from last year, and in my whole career, qualifying has been my biggest strength by a long way.

“But this year, it is just not coming my way.

“I think we understand the reasons why, but of course, I am not going to be the happiest about it, because I want to be fighting for pole, and things are not going the way they should.

“I am working hard, the team are working hard, and it is difficult moments, but it is the way it is at the moment.”

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