Lando Norris said he took “silly risks” at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix which led to his crash during Q3.

And the Drivers’ Championship leader has been warned that errors like that ultimately “cost you the championship” by former Jordan, Toyota, Virgin and Marussia F1 driver Timo Glock.

Lando Norris Saudi GP error ‘shouldn’t happen’: Redemption coming?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

A three-way battle for pole position was brewing at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix between the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, plus Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

But Norris’ chances of P1 on the grid vanished early in Q3, having found the wall in the first sector, a crash which he thankfully walked away from unhurt.

“Just a mistake,” he reflected when speaking to the media including PlanetF1.com. “I was pretty comfortable, was pretty happy until then. The car was strong, so disappointed.

“Obviously, I made my life and everyone on the team’s a lot trickier for tomorrow and a lot harder, because the guys have got a big job tonight to try and fix everything.

“But that’s life. This happens on a rare occasion. Got to look at the bright side and hope that we can have a good race tomorrow.

“I should be fighting for pole and, especially on a Q1 [sic] lap, I shouldn’t be taking any silly risks like I seem to have done.

“But it’s not a guarantee we would have been on pole because Max looks like he did a good job. Red Bull, they were quick the whole of qualifying so it wasn’t a surprise.

“I’m not going to be proud. I’m not going to be happy. I’ve let myself down and let the team down, and the guys have got a big job to do now to fix it all.”

Analysing Norris’ crash for Sky Deutschland, Glock claimed it was the type of mistake which Norris has been guilty of “very often in the past”.

And Glock foresees grim consequences for the Brit if such errors happen again.

“That shouldn’t happen to him in the decisive moments,” said Glock.

“That costs you the championship in the end.”

Key analysis from the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

👉 Lewis Hamilton telemetry data exposes critical Ferrari issues in Saudi Arabia

👉 What the data reveals about Lando Norris’ costly Saudi Arabian GP qualifying crash

Norris is due to start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix from P10, and following his attempt at a recovery drive to come, Glock believes Norris needs a reset as the first triple-header of F1 2025 comes to an end.

“The most important thing is that you don’t let yourself be dragged down by these questions, which will always be the same in the end,” Glock urged Norris.

“It hurts, but he is now experienced enough to know what he has to do to get out of it and perhaps try to take a deep breath after the triple-header, clear his head and then attack again.”

Norris leads the Drivers’ Championship by three points over McLaren team-mate Piastri, with Verstappen eight points off top spot.

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