Lando Norris has reflected on the internal debate he experienced after a "pretty woeful" effort in SQ2 at the Miami International Autodrome.
The McLaren driver managed to get through to the final part of sprint qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix, nonetheless, and was able to put his MCL40 on pole for the one-third distance race.
It was a strong performance in the end for the reigning drivers' champion, but it was not an easy journey through the session.
"It was pretty tough," Norris said afterwards. "My SQ2 was pretty woeful. I was like one second off."
Norris explained that he was unsure how to approach SQ3, but his race engineer, Will Joseph, pushed him towards the winning one-run strategy.
"So, it didn't fill me with confidence into the final run, and I was debating whether we do one lap or two laps, Will pushed me and said, 'Lando, we're doing one lap'.
"And it paid off, so there's been good work from the whole team. We got everything in a good window straight away. So I'm very proud of them."
Norris went two-tenths of a second quicker than Kimi Antonelli, with whom he will share the front row of the sprint grid.
"But the lap was good. It was good apart from one corner, [Turn] 16, onto the back straight, completely missed it.
"Just didn't want to get it today. So difficult conditions, also with the wind. The wind can play a big effect, so I'm just happy to be back here. It's been a little while.
"So, just a perfect way for me to start the weekend, too."
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