Lando Norris takes a cheeky dig at Jolyon Palmer's 'lucky' remark

Lando Norris took a playful jab at Jolyon Palmer during the post-qualifying scrum as the driver pointed out how the headwind hindered him and cost him a few hundredths. The McLaren drivers were very close to each other throughout qualifying.

There was, however, a clear pattern that had emerged during the free practice sessions and in Q1 and Q2, which was the fact that the Brit had a slight advantage over his teammate. In Q3, both drivers were neck and neck on their first laps, and in the end, it edged towards Oscar Piastri, who beat Lando Norris by a time that was fractionally quicker.

The gap came down to the British driver losing to Oscar Piastri in the final sector, where the Australian seemingly picked up a tow from the Racing Bulls in front of him while Lando Norris encountered a headwind.

Talking to Jolyon Palmer after the session, Lando Norris took a cheeky dig at the commentator (who had claimed in the F1 Nation Podcast that the Brit had been lucky this season) and mentioned how the direction of the wind hurt him. He said,

"It’s close, it’s been close the whole weekend, so easily could go one way or the other. I guess a little bit disappointed that I’m not on pole, but it's close. Were still some decent laps, so not the end of the world either. With the wind like this, a lot of it’s down to luck as well. Even with all the luck I’ve been having."

On Sunday, Lando Norris would start the race on the front row alongside Oscar Piastri, with Max Verstappen in P3. The Brit won the race last season in a dominant fashion, but unlike 2024, he's got his teammate in an equally competitive car as his main rival.

Lando Norris looking forward to the race

Even though Lando Norris has been ahead for most sessions during the weekend, the gap between the two drivers has not been much. Talking about the battle, Norris conceded the gap wasn't much between the two, and Oscar Piastri has been doing a good job this season anyway.

Looking forward to the race, he said,

"It’s tough. I had a good lap, Q3, run one, but just a small headwind down the straight, and I lost like one hundredth, so you could easily say it’s there. But I’m in a good position. We’re in a good fight. Oscar’s been driving well all weekend, we’ve been driving well all season, so we’ll have some fun tomorrow."

The F1 Dutch GP in the modern era has been won by the polesitter on every occasion since 2021. Could Norris reverse the trend? It would be interesting to see how he approaches the race.