The McLaren driver had been left upset after Friday’s qualifying session for Sunday’s grand prix when he felt he and the squad had blown the possibility to begin from the highest spot.
However he didn’t get it unsuitable a second time, as he pulled off a brilliant pole position in the Q3 segment of sprint qualifying to edge out Max Verstappen by 0.061 seconds.
Whereas McLaren has proven robust potential all through the Interlagos weekend, Norris mentioned he didn’t really feel his closing dash qualifying effort was going to ship pole.
“Actually, it felt like one of many worst laps I’ve achieved,” defined the Briton. “So I am a bit of bit stunned, but it surely’s an excellent shock. I really feel like we made up for yesterday. So yeah, good. My first pole in a very long time, so I am completely satisfied.”
Talking in additional element to F1 about precisely why the lap had not felt good, Norris mentioned the most important error got here within the opening part.
“I simply tousled Flip 1,” he defined. “I believe that was the one actual factor, the remainder of it did not really feel superb however not dangerous.
“Flip 1 and Flip 2 have been my nemesis corners all weekend. And I most likely did my worst Flip 1 and Flip 2 right this moment in Q3.”
Photograph by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60
Norris’s pole within the Brazil dash is his first for the reason that 2021 Russian Grand Prix, which he went on to steer earlier than a late-race downpour ruined his possibilities of grabbing a maiden win.
Crew-mate Oscar Piastri, who ended up tenth on the grid, confirmed in Qatar that McLaren has potential to show a dash pole right into a race win – though Norris is underneath no illusions how troublesome it will likely be.
“The tempo has been good all weekend and the automotive has been very robust, so we’re heading in the right direction,” he mentioned. “But it surely’s a tricky one.
“The Pink Bulls are all the time fast. Max is all the time fast. So it is not going to be a straightforward race, however the tempo is powerful. So if we need to have any probability, I will give it my all.”
Of specific concern to Norris, nevertheless, was the truth that no person managed to do a consultant future to understand how issues stack up over race distances.
“Nobody’s achieved any lengthy working, or we have not any lengthy working, so we’re a bit of with some inquiries to reply for right this moment, and naturally for tomorrow. However I am assured we will have an excellent race.”
Norris has joined AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda in being summoned to see the stewards after the session for breaking the utmost lap time delta through the Q1 phase of Saturday’s qualifying.