Lando Norris explains McLaren changes behind ‘surprise’ Dutch GP pole

ZANDVOORT – Lando Norris has revealed that some “small changes” to his McLaren car prior to qualifying were the catalyst to a “surprise” pole position at the Dutch GP.

Following his pole position in Hungary, Norris made it consecutive pole positions as Formula 1’s return from the summer break, edging out the two Mercedes drivers to top the timesheets at Zandvoort.

Lando Norris reveals McLaren changes behind Dutch GP pole

The Briton had gone into the top-10 shootout with the quickest time to his name in the second session and then delivered when it mattered during the opening laps in Q3 to secure provisional pole over George Russell and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

But while rain threatened to cease the competition’s bid to beat Norris, points leader Kimi Antonelli managed to usurp the reigning World Champion on his last run.

However, Norris responded with a lap a little over a tenth quicker than Antonelli’s previous benchmark, with Russell forced to settle for second place, 0.102 seconds back.

“Yeah, it doesn’t get any better [than that],” Norris said. “So a little surprised, honestly.

“But yeah, just a decent lap. I was pushing because you see how close it is. So you know every one hundredth, two hundredths can make a big difference in the end.”

Despite lining up second for the Sprint Race, Norris was unable to trouble eventual winner Russell while also surrendering second to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Norris, who converted pole position into the win at Zandvoort in 2024, explained that some minor alterations to his MCL39 were integral to him landing an 18th career pole.

“A good turnaround from earlier today, where I felt like we struggled a little bit,” he continued.

“We certainly felt very strong, so the team did a good job, so credits to them on trying to get a little bit more out of the car, and it certainly helped me today.”

Asked whether the changes were wholesale, Norris responded: “I mean, we had to try something because what we had before wasn’t going to be enough,” he explained.

“So we made some small changes. Nothing that was going to make us gain two tenths or one tenth even, but enough to maybe give me a little bit more confidence.

“And on a track like Zandvoort, you need good confidence in the car, and you want to attack a lot. So I felt like I could do that more today, and it paid off.”

Reporting by Taylor Powling

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