By Alan Baldwin
MONACO (Reuters) -An elated Lando Norris said his first Monaco Grand Prix pole position was a big deal after recent struggles in his Formula One title battle with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
The pole was McLaren’s first in the principality since 2007 and Norris’s first since the season-opener in Melbourne last March.
“It means a lot. Not just because it’s been a while since I’ve been here, but just because of how things have been, how things have gone over the last couple of months, in qualifying,” he said.
“And in Monaco, you know, it’s just a cooler, more special place to do it. A harder place, because it’s more difficult as a lap, more exciting, more pressure, but the most relief at the same time when you do a good job. And today was that day.”
Norris, who denied Ferrari’s home hero Charles Leclerc the pole position with his final flying lap, said it was probably the first time since Australia that he had “really put it all together.
“It’s not like I’m driving quicker, it’s I’m driving in a better way, in a smarter way,” he added.
Norris is 13 points behind Australian Piastri after seven races and has struggled to do himself justice on Saturdays — a session that used to be considered his strength.
He qualified sixth in Bahrain, 10th in Saudi Arabia and fourth at Imola in a car that has been generally considered the fastest.
“It probably means even more … because of what’s happened over the last couple of months,” said Norris.
“It may not seem like a lot. But for me, it’s quite a big deal. So, yeah, it’s a very, very good moment.”
Norris said he needed consistency of results to show how much of a breakthrough it was but “it’s at least a step in the right direction.
“I’ll be happier if I know and I can get to that point where I’m confident in every session that I can perform like I did today. Because I think my performance was at a very, very strong level.”
Norris recognised it had taken time to get there.
“I’ve been working very hard with my team away from the track, and here at the track, to work on as many areas as possible,” he said.
“I know that sometimes I always want immediate results, as I’m sure a lot of people do. But sometimes it takes time, and it has taken time.
“So to know that some of those things have paid off and it’s heading in the right direction, like I said, is very good to know.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)
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