Norris 'pretty gutted' to miss out on another pole: 'We're easily quick enough'

Norris looked like he was the favourite for pole position going into Q3 after showing outstanding pace up until that point. 

Changeable track conditions seemed to cost McLaren at the end, with Norris one of the last drivers to set his final lap.

This left him seventh on the grid, when he had the pace to take pole position at Interlagos.

“It was great, honestly,” he said. “The car was amazing. Easily probably quick enough to be quickest today and on pole. So pretty gutted for that to end the way we did. I don’t know how to feel about it. 

“The car was amazing, it came alive a lot in qualifying and easily good enough to be quickest I’d say. 

“Obviously delivering the lap and putting it together in Q3 and everything is a different job, but easily quick enough. So another disappointing Saturday, but not a lot we could have done.”

Teammate Oscar Piastri had to settle for tenth after running wide in Q3.

Assessing his qualifying display, Piastri said: “Just lost a lot of grip. I don’t know if it was already raining or what, but I was struggling a lot already on the lap, I think everyone was based on how slow the laps were.

“Just went in how I thought I did the last lap and slid straight off.

“It’s a shame, the pace of the car was looking good, but we’ll try again tomorrow.”