Lando Norris has admitted he was “nervous” about Ferrari's pace at the end of qualifying following his run to pole position.
The Briton improved on his final run in Q3 to leap to the top of the timesheets, while title rival Oscar Piastri struggled for form.
Norris has held the upper hand over Piastri for much of the weekend and continued to outperform his championship rival during Saturday's qualifying outing.
Piastri could only muster the eighth fastest lap time during Q3, but is due to start seventh due to a grid penalty for Carlos Sainz.
Norris found himself in company with the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton in the top three at the end of the session, out-pacing the former by just over two-tenths.
“I'm happy to be back on pole, it's been a long time,” Norris said.
“It was one of those laps where you don't even know what happened. It felt decent, but then when I crossed the line and saw a 1:15.5, I was very pleasantly surprised.
“I've been feeling good all weekend, especially from today.
“I got a little bit nervous about the Ferrari at the end in Q3, but I pulled it out when it mattered.”
Norris is likely set to come under pressure on the opening lap due to the long run from his grid box down to Turn 1.
The McLaren driver is expecting Ferrari to give him a hard time during the race as the Maranello-based squad goes in hunt of its first win of the season.
“I'm here to win,” Norris declared. “I'll be looking forward. I know I'm going to have some quick guys behind me, and it's a long run down to Turn 1.
“The race pace from the Ferrari is normally very strong, so I'm expecting a battle. I'm not expecting it to be easy, but eyes forward - and let's see how much I can win by!”
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