Lando Norris (McLaren) took pole at the F1 Russian GP, scheduled for tomorrow at the Sochi circuit. Carlos Sainz will also start in the front row with Ferrari. For the British driver it is the first pole position in his career. George Russel’s Williams and Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes will start in the second row. The reigning world champion made a mistake by damaging the nose of the car as he re-entered the pit lane at the end of Q3. At that moment he had the best time. Third row for Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) and Fernando Alonso (Alpine). Tomorrow, Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will start from the back of the grid, both of whom have replaced the power unit.
«I’m very happy honestly, from the beginning qualifying was complicated, but immediately after Q2 I realized that there was a possibility with slicks. We found an excellent strategy by making two laps with the slicks to bring the tires up to temperature. Unfortunately I was one of the first to cross the finish line and this did not allow me to fully exploit the track conditions »said Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz after second place in qualifying for the Russian GP. «This weekend we seem stronger, the worst conditions for us are the intermediate ones. In the dry we are competitive, Mercedes and Red Bull will be very fast tomorrow – he continued – But we will fight and try to have fun. The departure? It will be fun, I hope to be able to overtake Lando maybe taking advantage of the slipstream, starting on the dirt here is penalizing, I’ll have to prepare well tonight so as not to lose too much on that side ».
“It’s great, I don’t even know what to say. It was an incredible session, in the end we made the decision to mount slicks, but I didn’t think I would take pole. I succeeded and I am happy. I thank the team for the fantastic work »said Norris:« It was hard, I don’t want to praise myself too much but it was really complicated – added the McLaren driver – I didn’t think I could improve so much. I kept the tires warm, I risked a lot but the risk paid off. The departure? I don’t look too far ahead, I hope to be first after the first corner. It is my first pole position, hopefully the first of many. I don’t want to say anything else, I am very happy. After Monza it is a fantastic way to continue, we hope to continue like this tomorrow ».