Lando Norris has called his McLaren the hardest car he has ever driven after qualifying eighth for the United States Grand Prix. The reigning world champion said the car had the pace for second place. In his words, the gap between that and where he ended up was down to him.

His Q3 session went wrong twice. He locked up due to a gust of wind on his first run, while his second attempt was deleted for exceeding track limits. Had it counted, he would have started just two places higher, in sixth.

Norris believed a front-row start was possible on a clean lap. He said after the session. "The car was very strong today in terms of pace. Insanely difficult to drive. Probably the hardest car I've ever had to drive in my life. But good enough for P2, so I should be P2 and I'm P8, so clearly, I did a very bad job today."

Norris says McLaren are 'dreadful' in the slow final sector

Norris said the problems were concentrated in one part of the Circuit of the Americas. "We struggle a lot in Sector 3 and there's very slow speed. We're pretty dreadful, honestly," he said.

"You improve three corners and the other three are a nightmare all of a sudden. It's just impossible." Norris also admitted he finds it hard to accept the limits the car puts on him. "Which is a struggle, because I want to go for pole and I need to tell myself to settle for a P5 and I don't want to do that," he added.

Norris driving the MCL40 at COTA - Photo: Race Pictures

Looking ahead, the defending world champion said: "I don't know how easy it's going to be to overtake and things like that."

Piastri: neither driver could keep the car on track at the limit

Oscar Piastri will start one place ahead of his teammate in seventh. The Australian finished 0.768s off pole after failing to improve on his first Q3 lap.

He said: "It's been very, very tough to get that lap time out of the car. I've not managed it at all, but I think when either of us has really pushed the boundaries, we can't keep it on the track."

The result adds to a difficult spell for McLaren. The Woking-based team has not been able to score a podium finish since the Spanish Grand Prix.