Lando Norris has revealed that he was “stressed” during qualifying for the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix, where he secured pole position with a last-gasp lap.
Fresh from his Sprint Race win earlier in the day, Norris entered Grand Prix qualifying with an air of confidence, fastest of all through the opening two segments.
But Q3 began disastrously, as the championship leader locked up into Turn 1 on his first timed lap, leaving him down in 10th with one run to salvage his prospects.
On his second lap in the closing seconds, though, Norris found over six tenths of a second to move into pole, less than a tenth faster than Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
But despite how easy his lap looked, Norris confessed his first-lap issues caused him stress as he remained in the dark over his time delta gap against his rivals in Q3.
“It was for sure more stressful than I would have liked, especially because we’ve been very quick all weekend,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I don’t know really know how it happened. I looked at the data after quickly between the two runs, and I braked earlier with less pressure, and still somehow locked up.
“So, yeah, a bit weird, maybe a bit of wind or something. But, yeah, that certainly put a little bit more pressure on my final lap, and I saw the others improving, but not a lot.
“Just difficult, again, with the track conditions, the wind, everything, hard to get a nice feeling out there.
“So, again, I didn’t know if I was up or down on my delta, so I was a bit stressed.
“But when I went over the line and saw the lap, I was pretty happy. And when I saw no one running quicker, I was even happier”.
Norris wary of changeable conditions ahead of race
Norris divulged that his second run was far from perfect, but he remained happy with his efforts on a day that saw him end in a strong position compared to his rivals.
“My Turn 1 wasn’t amazing,” he recalled. “I think Kimi was purple in sector one by one thousandth, so maybe one thousandth more there!
“There was little bits, but it’s just so difficult with the wind. Every lap it changes. It’s three kph, four kph, you don’t really notice it probably when you’re standing there.
“But it can easily make you go a tenth quicker in a corner, or half a tenth here and there. And that can be a lot at the end of the day.
“That can be positions, it can be pole or not pole, and those kind of things, you know. So, difficult.
“And sometimes you do the same thing, you repeat, like my Turn 1. But you just make a mistake for kind of no apparent reason, no obvious reason why you’re in the car.
“So, yeah, difficult as it was for everyone today. But definitely not a perfect lap, but good enough.”
Norris explained that the gusty conditions around Interlagos impacted his grip and confidence in the car, hinting at potential difficulties that could provide in the race.
Asked how much confidence he harbours going into the race, Norris replied: “I think in our race pace tomorrow, not the most I’ve had”.
“You know, I was certainly more confident in Mexico. I think after this morning with the Mercedes pace and Kimi’s pace, it certainly lowered my confidence level altogether.
“But we’re still quick. We’ve still got that little advantage in qualifying.
“I really hope that we can continue that into the race tomorrow.
“But the weather is going to change again. I think it’s going to be even colder, which might suit them [Mercedes] even more. And the winds are going to change also.
“It’s difficult. Every track is so different. The feelings I have on one track are different to the next and those kind of things.
“But I just feel like I’m doing a good job, I’m driving well. Before, earlier in the season, I would just have weaknesses.
“And I feel like I’ve, let’s say, maybe still got some here and there, but I’ve lessened them. And they’re not like one-tenth now, it’s two-hundredths.
“So when I can put together the good parts and have those not-so-bad parts, things go very well.”
Norris was coy on the changes made between the Sprint and qualifying, but he admitted that there were more alterations adopted on his MCL39 than usual.
“We changed a good amount, I would say,” he disclosed. “I don’t know what is a lot and what is not nowadays. But we never changed that much.
“You’re talking a little bit of ride height or a little bit of roll bars or something. So you’re talking always quite small.
“But let’s say probably more than I think we’ve changed in the past. Between a Friday, Saturday, [on a] Sprint weekend
READ MORE – Lando Norris storms to F1 Brazil GP pole, Max Verstappen out in Q1
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