F1 | McLaren, Norris is on pole: "I took a lot of risks, but it was worth it"

Amazing Lando Norris! The McLaren driver took his first career pole position in Sochi, in what proved to be a qualifying full of water and twists. After the cancellation of FP3, the race direction gave the green light for qualifying. Everyone takes to the track with intermediate tires and Lando is already setting some interesting times; but it is in Q3, when Russell returns to put on the slicks, that everything happens: Hamilton, at that moment in provisional pole position, breaks his front wing when returning to the pits and then turns onto the track on dry tires that are too cold. Valtteri Bottas, the favourite, is unable to put together a fast lap on dry tires and, just when Sainz thought he had taken pole, Norris improves his time, putting himself ahead of his former teammate with an advantage of half a second. First pole for Norris and also for Mclaren - without considering Ricciardo's first position in Monza - since Brazil 2012 with Lewis Hamilton, who won the GP; pole number 156 for the Woking team, which will probably see this number rise thanks to the great talent of Lando Norris.

"Obviously I'm very happy, I've probably never been so happy in Formula 1! It's my first pole position in F1 and in complicated conditions. It was really tough out there, I took a lot of risks, I thought several times that I would end up straight into the wall, but the risks paid off and it was worth it – explained the pole man – thanks to the whole team for giving me a great car today. Doing pole is amazing, it's something I always dreamed of as a child. Now I can finally achieve this goal, I hope to achieve another great result tomorrow".