Brown downplays Norris' chances: 'Front row has a good chance'

In the early stages of Q3 Lando Norris found the wall, effectively throwing away his chances at an almost certain pole for the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. McLaren CEO, Zak Brown, reacts to his driver's crash.

In conversation with Sky Sports, Brown gave an update on Norris' condition,

"He said he was fine on the radio, so the car's a little bruised, we'll get that fixed and we'll go again tomorrow," said the American, before briefly answering a question regarding Norris' mental shape, quickly sidestepping it to then focus on the race.

Brown ready for Verstappen - Piastri face off in F1 race in Jeddah

"Just pick him back up. Just focus on the race tomorrow. Probably a one-stop race but high likelihood of safety cars around here, so just focus on the race tomorrow and do the best we can and see if we can get him further up the grid. He'll certainly be faster than he qualified."

In the end it will be a Max Verstappen, pole sitter, and Oscar Piastri, P2, face off. "I'm looking forward to that. No, I think race pace is good, but track position will be key. Front row has got a good chance, so I'm looking forward to a big duel tomorrow."

Andrea Stella also commented on his driver's crash yesterday and he saw there was more responsibility in the track's kerbing and in McLaren's development of the MCL39 than in the British driver himself.