Martin Brundle saw a worrying Lando Norris ‘glitch’ that cost him dearly during Canadian Grand Prix qualifying

McLaren driver Lando Norris once again failed to execute the perfect lap when it mattered at the Canadian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris will start the Canadian Grand Prix from seventh after making several key errors during the final session of qualifying.

Norris skipped the final chicane on his first run of Q3 and his final lap was ruined after he brushed the barriers on the exit of turn six.

It means for the first time this season, McLaren won’t have a car starting on the front row with Oscar Piastri only capable of setting the third-fastest time of the session.

Ted Kravitz admitted he heard something ‘weird’ about McLaren’s cars during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend and their advantage over the rest of the field hasn’t shrunk in Montreal.

Piastri hit the barriers during free practice and seemed to be a step behind his teammate on Friday and Saturday.

However, he will start four places ahead of his teammate on Sunday, and Martin Brundle believes he’s spotted the reason why Norris doesn’t appear to be able to maximise his performance when it counts in qualifying.

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Martin Brundle spots Lando Norris ‘glitch’ during Canadian Grand Prix qualifying

Commentating for Sky Sports F1 during the first run of laps of the final session, Brundle and David Croft watched Max Verstappen clinch provisional pole position.

Brundle explained: “Classic Max Verstappen brilliance there!

“Gains four-tenths over Q2 from Q1, gains another four-tenths so far in Q3 and Lando Norris has just put himself under a lot of pressure with that error.”

On the team radio, Norris’ race engineer Will Joseph said: “Lando, let’s just reset and remember your braking points.”

Croft explained that Joseph was trying to help Norris keep a ‘level head’ after an error going into the final chicane saw him cut the corner and void his first attempt at a flying lap.

Brundle continued: “Yeah, Lando had it all under control all weekend, hadn’t he?

“And suddenly, that little glitch there has now put him on the back foot. He’s now going to have to put a stunner in and he’s got to ace every braking point, every turn-in.

“He’s got to hit the throttle at exactly the right time, exactly the right amount if he’s now going to be on the front row.”

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Damon Hill responds to Lando Norris’ struggles at the Canadian Grand Prix

Norris is currently 10 points behind Piastri in the drivers’ championship and will be desperate to avoid that gap increasing after Sunday’s race.

The British driver initially had a 23-point advantage after the opening race in Australia, but has since seen Piastri win five Grand Prix and take the lead in the standings.

Last season saw Norris dominate Piastri in qualifying but that trend has disappeared in 2025 at a time when the field is closer than ever and overtaking seems even harder to achieve than before.

Piastri focused on improving his one-lap pace over the winter and has benefited from that work already this season.

In terms of their underlying speed, Piastri and Norris are extremely closely matched, however, the Australian appears better suited to performing under pressure.

Damon Hill was frustrated by Norris’ Q3 performance in Canada and all eyes will be on how the 25-year-old can recover during the race.

Norris proved in Monaco that he can produce an almost perfect lap when it counts, but those performances have been too few and far between this season.