Lando Norris took risks in "manic" Russian GP qualifying to claim pole

Russian Grand Prix

Norris took risks in "manic" Russian GP qualifying to claim pole

Norris secured the first pole position of his Formula 1 career in Russia

Sam Hall

Saturday 25 September 2021 15:40

McLaren driver Lando Norris has revealed to taking risks en route to scoring his maiden F1 pole at the Russian Grand Prix.

After torrential rain led to speculation qualifying could be delayed or even postponed to Sunday morning, the weather cleared 40 minutes before the qualifying started and the fans were treated to a spectacular session.

The chaos began in Q3 as drivers switched from intermediate to slick tyres when Lewis Hamilton hit the wall on the pit entry and opened the door for his time to be beaten.

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"It was tough," said Norris of his late effort. "I'm obviously going to make myself sound good but it was tricky because it was really that crossover section.

"The lap before I was two seconds down and I wasn't very confident we were going to improve on the previous lap.

"But I kept the tyres warm and prepared the final lap. I risked quite a bit and it paid off so I'm a happy boy."

Norris' pole lap continues McLaren's form from the Italian Grand Prix in which Daniel Ricciardo secured the team's first win since 2012.

"I guess coming off of Monza this is not something we really expected but these kinds of conditions are when we can take opportunities and that is exactly what we did today," Norris explained.

"It feels amazing. I don't know what to say. It was quite a manic session but it was going well and we obviously made the decision in the end to go with slicks but I don't know.

"You never think you're going to get a pole until you manage to get it and now I've managed to do it."

The long run to the first braking zone of the lap often provides a strong tow to those on the second row, a fact Norris appeared to be painfully aware of.

"I'm not really looking forward to being first down to turn one tomorrow," he explained.

"But you never know. It's going to set us up well and we're in the best position we can be in."