Lando Norris rues “unnecessary pressure” before crucial Brazil F1 pole

Lando Norris has admitted that he put “unnecessary pressure” on himself before storming to pole at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Norris locked up on his first lap in Q3, leaving him 10th in the order.

Despite the added pressure, Norris delivered a mighty lap to take pole ahead of Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.

Norris has been on a remarkable run of form, opening up a nine-point lead over teammate Oscar Piastri.

Norris controlled the sprint race from pole position, edging out Antonelli.

Conversely, Piastri crashed out at Turn 2 on Lap 7 of the sprint, leaving his title hopes in tatters.

With Piastri set to start the grand prix from fourth, Norris can open up a significant lead in the championship standings with three races to go after tomorrow’s Sao Paulo GP.

Reflecting on qualifying, Norris said: “It was tough out there with the conditions. Just slippery. Inconsistent but good fun.

“It’s always a pleasure around this track, you know. I felt good. I was under a bit of a pressure because I locked up in my first lap so a little more stressful also than I would have liked.

“I stayed calm and put it all together when it mattered so very happy.”

‘When I am calm, I will be on top’

Norris’ calmness under pressure deserves credit, given the number of mistakes he made in qualifying earlier in the year.

The British driver couldn’t execute clean laps at the end of Q3 consistently.

Since the summer break, Norris has consistently outperformed Piastri.

Other than Zandvoort, where Piastri beat Norris to pole after benefiting from a slipstream on his final Q3 lap, the British driver has been consistently quicker.

Norris added: “We’ve been on very good form. The team are good at giving me a great car, of course. I’ve always got to thank the team. I didn’t make it easy for them or myself then.

“I am still having to push. Q3, run one, locking up in Turn 1. It puts unnecessary pressure on myself and the others are doing a good job.

“I think when I am in a good rhythm, when I can stay calm and when I can put it together I will be on top.”

Looking ahead to the race, Norris is hopeful of a “clean” race, with no interference from Antonelli or Charles Leclerc behind.

Norris said: “I learned that they’re pretty quick and that Kimi pushes all the way until the very end.

“In some ways looking forward to it, in some ways I’m not.

“I think it’s going to be a big challenge tomorrow. We have to see what the weather is going to do again.

“So far this weekend has been clean, so I’m hoping they don’t ruin it.”