Lando Norris begins the first Grand Prix after Formula 1's summer break in the same place where the previous race started: on pole position. The McLaren driver does not expect, however, that the Dutch Grand Prix will end with the comfortable victory he enjoyed in Hungary a month ago.
The lessons from Saturday's early sprint race put Norris on alert before Sunday's race at Zandvoort. He started second to George Russell of Mercedes in the sprint, inversely to their positions on the Grand Prix grid. But Russell won comfortably while Norris fell behind Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in the final stages.
"I'm not thinking about tomorrow," said Norris. "I'm just thinking: I'm on pole. Let me enjoy it. I'll do my preparation tonight, I'll prepare myself well, I'll learn as much as I can from this morning, I'll see what we can do better".
Norris secured pole with a lap at the limit. He explained that the sprint race disappointed him quite a bit with his pace, but he was expecting to improve in qualifying thanks to low fuel and fresh tyres. "My final lap wasn't the cleanest nor the best I've ever done, but I committed much more in braking and took many more risks in the high-speed corners," he noted.
Russell, who needs a good result to reignite his title fight, is aware of McLaren's advantages in high-speed corners. "I don't think that gives them as much opportunity to use that pace as in qualifying, because it puts too much temperature into the tyres," he said. "But pole is the best place to start, especially on a circuit where it's difficult to overtake".
The sprint victory, with his teammate Kimi Antonelli only fourth, brought Russell three points closer to the Italian, who dominated the first half of the season. However, Antonelli still holds a 56-point lead. Russell has been performing better this weekend and has beaten Antonelli in all three competitive sessions so far.
