Lando Norris snatched the Sprint Qualifying pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix in extremely difficult conditions, as the rain hit the track in SQ3.
The British driver seemed quick throughout the session, but he still didn’t manage to put a perfect lap in. When it seemed he did that, the stewards deleted his lap time.
That put Lewis Hamilton on pole for a few seconds, but then Norris’s lap time was reinstated, allowing him to celebrate another great result. The McLaren driver, however, admitted that it wasn’t easy to drive in those conditions, as the track was extremely slippery and the temperatures low.
“It was tricky. You’re always nervous going into a session like this, especially for quali when you know it’s going to rain. I know I was quite happy with how it was in the dry; I think we have had good pace all weekend so far.
“So I got a bit nervous, but the conditions were you have just got to risk a lot, you have got to push, build tire temperature, and so forth.
“But I was quick, I just kept catching the Ferrari, so I had to keep backing off. I didn’t do the first few two laps like well at all, and I got a good final one: a good enough one for pole. So I’m happy. Sad it is not for proper qualifying, but good enough.
“The first two I aborted on both, so I was like: the last lap was all or nothing. But it’s getting wetter and wetter. So actually the conditions for the final two laps were a lot worse than the second lap at least.
“I was a little bit nervous that I made a few mistakes, and started to aquaplane quite a bit. But it’s good fun. It gets your heart going. To end up on top is exactly what we wanted.”
Norris concluded by analyzing how McLaren is doing so far this weekend. He is happy with the pace, both in the wet and when the track is dry. He still believes that the race will be completely different as other teams will catch up, but he feels in a good position.
“We did some of our homework this morning; we did some consecutive laps to try and understand, but it depends on what the weather is. There’s still a chance of rain tomorrow.
“If it’s like this, then I think the chances are relatively decent. But the race is still very different to qualifying.
“I’m sure everyone’s going to catch up a bit tomorrow. But the pace is good whether it’s wet or dry and I think we’re in a good position. It’s a bit of a surprise, but I’m very happy the team has done a good job, and the car is feeling good. And so am I. And it’s paying off.”