Lando Norris claimed an improbable pole position for McLaren in the Sprint Shootout at the Chinese Grand Prix, where he will line up for the Sprint alongside fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton.
In a session that saw changing weather conditions and a second fire-induced red flag of the day, Norris managed to beat his rivals as the rain got heavier.
Having originally had his final lap time in SQ3 deleted, the reinstatement of that time vaulted him to pole. After the session he told Alex Brundle of Sky Sports he was “extremely happy” with the result.
“It was,” the 24-year-old contended when Brundle put to him how wild the conditions appeared to be, before adding: “I’m extremely happy, first of all, so big thanks to the whole team.”
“It was tricky. You’re always nervous going into a session like this. Especially for quali[fying] when you almost know it’s gonna rain.
“I was quite happy with how it was in the dry, you know, I think we had good pace this weekend so far, so I got a bit nervous, but the conditions were – you’ve just got to risk a lot, you’ve got to push, build tyre temperature and so forth.
“But I was quick, I just kept catching the Ferrari. So, I had to keep backing off – I didn’t do the first two laps well at all, and I got a good final one – a good enough one for pole, so I’m happy. Sad it’s not for proper qualifying but good enough.”
‘Not a clue’
Norris highlighted how his final lap was all or nothing, with Brundle pointing out how difficult it must have been to keep tyre temperate in the correct window.
“You have to, you only have three laps,” the McLaren driver said.
“The first two I aborted on both, so the last lap was all or nothing – but it was getting wetter and wetter, so actually the final conditions in the final two laps were a lot worse, than the second lap at least.
“So, I was a little bit nervous and I made a few mistakes, started to aquaplane quite a bit. But it’s good fun – gets your heart going and to end up on top is exactly what we wanted. So, nice surprise and a good position for tomorrow”
When asked if he had any idea what to expect from his car, and what he would have underneath him for the Sprint, Norris explained he did not.
“Not a clue, but we did some of our homework this morning,” he said.
“We did some consecutive laps to try and understand, but it depends what the weather is. There is still a chance of rain tomorrow. So, if it’s like this, then I think the chances are relatively decent.
“But the race is all very different to qualifying, so I’m sure everyone is gonna catch up a bit tomorrow.
“But pace is good, whether wet or dry, and I think we’re in a good position. So a bit of a surprise, like I said, but I’m very happy, the team did a good job, the cars feeling good, and so am I – and it’s paying off.”
News Summary:
- Norris ‘clueless’ for Sprint after wet-and-wild Chinese Shootout
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