Norris ‘risked quite a bit’ on lap for shock Russian GP pole
The McLaren driver capitalised on rapidly improving track conditions at the end of Q3 to claim a sensational maiden pole in Sochi after gambling to switch onto soft tyres following his first run on intermediates.
It was a move that paid off for Norris, who went on to beat Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by six-tenths of a second.
"It feels amazing, I don't know what to say," Norris said.
"It was quite a manic session. We were going well and obviously we made the decision in the end to go slicks.
"You don't think you're going to get a pole until you get it and now I've managed to do it so yeah, extremely happy.
"Big thanks to the team as well, they've done an amazing job.”
Norris admitted he was initially unsure whether he had made the correct decision in changing onto slicks.
"I'm obviously going to make myself sound good, but it was tricky,” he explained.
"It was really that crossover section and the lap before I was like, 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, and I risked quite a bit, I'm going to admit, and it paid off, so I'm a happy boy.”
The result comes two weeks after Norris finished second behind teammate Daniel Ricciardo at the Italian Grand Prix as McLaren ended its near-decade-long winning drought in F1.
“Coming off Monza this is not something we really expected,” Norris said.
“But these kind of conditions are when we can take opportunities and that’s exactly what we did today.
“Especially after Monza this is an awesome way to start and hopefully we can continue it again tomorrow.”
However, Norris acknowledged that pole might not be ideal in Sochi given the nature of the long run down to Turn 2.
“I’m not looking forward to being first down to turn one tomorrow,” he said. “But you never know, it’s going to set us up well.
“We’re in the best position we can be in so I’m happy. It’s my first pole position, hopefully the first of many.”
