'We are where we should be' – Norris and Piastri reflect on McLaren's Singapore GP Qualifying

Lando Norris believes that fifth on the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix is "where we should be", as McLaren continue to struggle to match the pace of the leading runners this weekend.

The reigning World Champion was only just over three tenths adrift of polesitter Max Verstappen, but it meant Norris also finished behind the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, as well as Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes on Saturday.

Norris had been running fifth in the day's earlier Sprint before a collision with team mate Oscar Piastri sent them both into a spin, and believes they are the fourth quickest car in Singapore this weekend.

"I think in the end we're kind of where we should be," he said "We've not done anything, nothing has changed [since the Sprint], so there's no reason why we're suddenly going to be on the pace.

"I could obviously put bits together, like I could have a very good sector 1 or very good sector 2. But the car is just too much of a challenge, hence we're P5 and P7.

"It's just too difficult, I feel like I'm almost crashing to put in a purple sector but you just can't do that, the tyres don't survive.

"Simply the car is too difficult to be in the perfect limit when it's quick and the chance you put a lap together in that limit is basically impossible.

"Of course I was pushing for it, I was hoping and felt like I had a good idea of what I wanted to do but it just didn't come towards me. We are where we should be really."

Piastri was only able to finish seventh in Qualifying after McLaren repaired his damaged car from the earlier collision with Norris, with the stewards taking no further action over the incident.

The Australian, who will start sixth as George Russell serves a grid penalty, also believes that the MCL40 was lacking performance on the streets of Marina Bay compared with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes

"I think we, to be honest, looked relatively convincingly the third or fourth quickest [car]. I think Max had us covered and I think the Ferraris did too, to be honest," he said.

"Bit of a shame, I was hoping we had a bit more but I think that was pretty much all we had. It wasn't the smoothest of sessions, a few mistakes here and there, not that easy to get time out of the car. We'll try again tomorrow."