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Adam, Cisca and Oliver have jetted over, the Norris clan here in the illuminated Lusail paddock trying to keep their smoked salmon and avocado down.
Lando might be a caring son and brother, but he has not always been considerate with regards to his loved ones’ intestinal calm.
And so it proved in qualifying for the Qatar Grand Prix when he ripped second place from the jaws of pole position. A mistake cost him, running wide as the pressure rose.
The honour of pole was seized by Norris’s McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, with the other title contender Max Verstappen third – just the place jitterbug Norris does not want the pugnacious Dutchman to be.
So it is another nervous night for the Norris family as Lando, aged 26, goes in search of his first world title. Dad Adam admits he is a fretful observer. Mother Cisca’s head was buried in a distracting book, even though the maths continues to support Lando’s prospects.
The Briton only – there are no onlys in this, though – has to score four more points than Piastri and one more than Verstappen today to be assured of the title ahead of next weekend’s finale in Abu Dhabi.
Lando Norris qualified in second with Max Verstappen breathing down his neck in third
Oscar Piastri took pole position in Qatar after capitalising on one small error from his team-mate
It was a trying experience as qualifying unfolded.
Lordy, Lando especially gave the family palpitations in Q2. Three times he tried to set a time. Three time he exceeded track limits, his contribution wiped off the record by the stewards. This left him with a final crack at squeezing into Q3, which he accomplished with aplomb. A sigh of relief.
He at first showed the class at his core as the pole shootout started. He set the quickest time with his first flying lap, 0.035sec ahead of Piastri and 0.454sec better than Verstappen, lying fourth at this stage.
It was a calm opening run, and then another ambush burst on the senses. Williams’s Carlos Sainz ran over a long, skinny piece of plastic – like a bag – and a red flag was waved.
A marshal removed the offending litter. The mechanics busied themselves in the garage. Norris and Co sat in their cockpits in suspended animation.
The delay lasted five minutes. There was now time for one out lap and one flying lap. Norris held the advantage by dint of the time he had already set. But, oh no, he made the fateful slight error at Turn Two, and he aborted. Piastri was faultless, finishing a tenth of a second faster.
‘I just had a bit of understeer and was going to go off so I had to pull out,’ said Norris. ‘Which was a shame, but it’s the way it is.’
His confidence appeared a little knocked as he spoke afterwards, and he did not want to look back on events, instead offering optimism for the race by saying he felt more comfortable in the car than earlier in the weekend.
Piastri, Norris and Verstappen are locked in a fascinating battle for the championship
He had been in a feisty mood after the preceding sprint race – won by Piastri (the coming man after recent wobbles?), with George Russell second, himself third and Verstappen fourth – and took aim at Verstappen.
Twenty-four hours earlier Verstappen had taken the pin out of a psychological grenade by declaring he would ‘easily’ have won the title by now if the pair swapped cars.
Verstappen is clueless, countered Norris. ‘I have a lot of respect, and he has achieved an incredible amount – more than anyone one could dream of achieving – and that gives anyone credit,’ he said.
‘Max generally has a good clue about many aspects, but there are also a lot of things he doesn’t have much of a clue about.
Lewis Hamilton qualified in 18th and his miserable run of form at Ferrari goes on
‘But it is also Red Bull’s way of going about things – an aggressive nature and just talking nonsense a lot of the time.’
Back on track, Lewis Hamilton qualified 18th (passim). The country’s last world champion was four-tenths off Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc and more than eight-tenths off the pace.
The 40-year-old was last in qualifying in Las Vegas a week ago, and started 18th in the sprint before finishing 17th. Leclerc, who starts 10th, has outgunned him on 18 miserable times in 23 outings.
To think that 17 years ago, on the final corner in Sao Paulo, Hamilton claimed his maiden world title in spitting rain, unforgettably. His star has set; Norris’s family pray Lando’s will rise today but their stomachs will churn all the way there. And perhaps in Abu Dhabi, if their nerves can last that long.
