Sawt Falasteen - Downbeat Norris still hoping to fight for victory

The McLaren driver, who is chasing three-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull in the drivers' title race, admitted he had been below his best during qualifying on Saturday.

"It was tough, but I'm honestly pretty happy with today," he said. "I think, in the end, me and Oscar (Piastri) were split by half a tenth or something.

"Clearly we were lacking comparing to the cars ahead, especially the Red Bull –- the Red Bull is on another level compared to us in the rain and even in the dry, they were probably still a bit stronger.

"So, a tough day. I expected worse and I've not been driving particularly well. Just one of those days where it's just not clicking. Honestly, it's just a little bit of a struggle out there for me, so to salvage P5, I'm pretty happy with that."

Verstappen topped the times in qualifying but will start 11th on the grid on Sunday, after taking a 10-place penalty for making an engine change.

However, Norris is not ruling out the Dutchman.

"Max is going to come through, I think, pretty quickly. I'm most likely going to be fighting him for the win and I hope that with maybe a slightly lower downforce setting than we chose today, it comes back into our favour," said the 24-year-old Briton.

His team-mate Piastri, who claimed his maiden victory in last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, was sixth and said he believed McLaren still had the potential to win.

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes also forecast that Verstappen would slice through the field from 11th.

"Max will make his way through pretty quick," said Hamilton. "I think that car is the fastest here this weekend, or at least tied with McLaren… For us, we're just going to keep our heads down and try and hold position.

"I'm going to try and see if I can keep up with the guys that are ahead of me, but I'll give it everything."

Hamilton qualified fourth to take third on the grid alongside Norris.

Charles Leclerc of Ferrari will start from pole with Red Bull's Sergio Perez beside him, after they finished second and third, respectively, in Saturday's qualifying.

L.AbuAli--SF-PST