Norris addresses ‘concern’ after Brazil F1 pole surge

Lando Norris has revealed concern that he would not progress far in qualifying for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix after a difficult opening run.

The McLaren driver narrowly progressed into the second qualifying segment after ending Q1 in 15th place.

Norris was struggling with his car confidence in the session but improved as the morning progressed.

A hectic and heavily interrupted qualifying outing resulted in Norris surging to pole position ahead of George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda.

However, the 24-year-old admitted his hopes of a successful session looked bleak in the early stages.

“There's a lot more risk involved in a day like today, especially because I was 15th in Q1, I was struggling,” Norris told media including RacingNews365. “I was miles off the pace.

“I was like a second and a half off Oscar [Piastri]. I don't know what was going on. I was pretty concerned at the beginning.

“It was not looking good. So to be sat here now on on pole, that's probably the thing that makes it sweeter.”

Norris asserts improvements down to 'driver'

The pole position is the eighth of Norris' career and the seventh of the season.

Norris highlighted there were no changes to the car during the session that made him improve his pace.

“The car was the same from start to finish, it was just confidence and braking,” he said. 

“It was just half of it, pushing too much, half not enough. I just couldn't get comfortable with the car.

“It was showing at the time, I really didn't have a lot of confidence.

It could have been a very different story today, but it was more just conditions and days like today when you got Yuki here and you got such a mix up in the order, it shows that it's not all about the car.

“It’s about who can get the tyres in, drive well and not make mistakes.”