Lando Norris admitting to being "a little surprised" but also relieved after securing pole for Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix after overcoming the massively challenging wet conditions and a series of red flags that marked the chaotic session.
The McLaren driver's impressive performance marked a potentially pivotal moment in the 2024 season, as Norris aims to close the 44-point gap to championship leader Max Verstappen, who suffered a costly Q2 elimination in qualifying.
The persistently wet surface and lack of grip caught several drivers off guard and led to four red flags, one of which involving Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll left Verstappen unable to complete a competitive Q2 lap.
But amid the chaos and disruption, Norris kept his focus and control, gradually finding his rhythm to claim pole on the waterlogged track.
“There was a lot going on today, but super, super happy because I was struggling a lot at the beginning of qualifying,” explained the McLaren driver.
“I had a lot of work to do so I was not comfortable at all, so to end up on pole… I worked at it a lot through qualifying.
“I had a lot of errors I needed to improve on but I did exactly that, so a little surprised again. I’ve been surprised a bit lately, but some nice laps. I felt good in the end and a good result for us.”
The perilous conditions didn’t make Norris’s path easy. Drivers were visibly struggling, with crashes from Carlos Sainz, Stroll, Fernando Alonso, and Alex Albon underlining the constant risk.
Norris balanced the fine line between pushing for performance and avoiding costly mistakes.
“You’re always trying to find that next little bit but you saw how many people were going off and crashing and locking up, so it was easy to end up badly and end up in the wall, or do something where you might not even make the race later today,” he said.
“That risk/reward was not easy today, especially from where I was in Q1 I found it very tough to know how much more can I push.
“So that’s why I’m happy, because it’s a relieving qualifying after something like this.”
Looking ahead, Norris is aware of the fierce competition he’ll face at the start of what looks to be a wet race from Mercede’s George Russell, who put in an impressive lap to secure second, and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda, who was consistently fast in the wet conditions and will start third.
“Eyes forward, I mean I’ve got some quick guys behind,” he added. “George put in a nice lap, Yuki’s been flying in the wet all day today.
“It’s never easy in these conditions, it’s never as much as just settling down and getting on with it.”
Norris’s pole position contrasts with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri’s challenging session. The Australian, after locking up and going off track on his final lap in Q3, qualified only in eighth, describing the result as “disappointing” and “frustrating.”
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