Lando Norris secures pole for F1 Brazilian GP sprint with "one of the worst laps" he's done

Lando Norris secured pole position for the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP sprint with a lap that he described as one of his worst. The McLaren driver nailed the only lap he had on the fresh set of soft tires and was the fastest driver by six-hundredths of a second.

In the sprint shootout, Norris, alongside Max Verstappen, had a fresh set of soft tires available and it all came down to the last lap in the SQ3. While Verstappen put together an impressive lap, Norris' lap was .061 seconds quicker.

Sergio Perez finished in P3, while P4 and P5 belonged to the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Talking about the lap, Lando Norris termed it one of the worst that he'd done and hence was a little surprised with the final result. He said:

"A great day. Honestly, it felt like one of the worst laps I’ve done, so I’m a little bit surprised, but it’s a good surprise. I feel like we’ve made up for yesterday. My first pole in a long time, so I’m happy."

Norris was also questioned about how he expected the race to pan out. He expressed quiet confidence, stating that he felt McLaren had been strong throughout the weekend, but added that the threat posed by Verstappen remained.

"No idea. But the pace has been good all weekend. The car’s been very strong. We’re on the right track. It’s a tough one, the Red Bulls are always quick, Max is always quick. So it’s not going to be an easy race, but the pace is strong, so if we’re going to have any chance, I’ll give it my all," Lando Norris said.

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Saturday brings a better result for Lando Norris after the disappointment in qualifying on Friday

The pole position on Saturday for the sprint was a much better result for Lando Norris after the disappointment of qualifying on Friday. The driver will be starting the race on Sunday in P6 after Mclaren misjudged when he should have been sent out on track.

Reflecting on his performance on Friday, Norris was disappointed and said after qualifying:

"Not at all the result we wanted. We showed strong pace in the dry, but we just didn’t do a good enough job of getting on track at the right time with the rain coming in.

"A real shame, it’s pretty disappointing for the team as it’s a big opportunity missed today. A tough start to the weekend but we’ll do our best tomorrow in the Sprint to score positive points."

Norris has been very impressive in the second half of the season since McLaren introduced upgrades to his car. He will be looking to secure what would be his first win in F1 in the sprint, an achievement already recorded by his teammate Oscar Piastri in Qatar.