Lando Norris hails United States GP F1 pole “the best of my career”

Lando Norris has labelled his United States Grand Prix F1 pole position “the best of my career” after he beat title rival Max Verstappen in qualifying.

Norris put together a blistering lap to take pole position at the Circuit of the Americas.

While there was some good fortune for Norris, given George Russell’s crash meant that Verstappen couldn’t improve (he was up on Norris’ time at the time), it was still an impressive effort from the British driver in the context of McLaren’s struggles this weekend relative to Red Bull.

Speaking in the FIA press conference after qualifying in Austin, Norris said: “It was the best of probably my career I think. It was just a very nice lap. I set the bar too high because on my second lap, I was like ‘guys I don't think I am going to improve much here’.

“I got everything out of the car. We changed a good amount from the sprint into qualifying today. We definitely took a step forward. We were still struggling a lot.

“I just knew I had to risk a little bit more and give it that extra. It just came together perfectly.

“It was definitely not a lap I could have repeated. I am very happy because I wasn’t expecting to be here today.”

Explaining further his best Q3 lap, he added: “It was a bit everywhere honestly. Of course, the high-speed is a little bit where we struggle a touch compared to the Red Bulls. 

“Max has been extremely quick in the first sector, the high-speed. So trying to limit that a little bit more was a good start and then just the braking, the final sector. From [Turn] 12 to 16.

“As soon as one part goes wrong it can fall away quite quickly. Again, just hooked everything up, probably the first time this weekend, probably the last. It just came together perfectly. It was a very, very good lap. I probably say quite confidently the best of my career.”

Norris is remaining cautious over McLaren’s chances in the race because of what happened in the sprint.

Norris finished third in the 19-lap sprint earlier in the day after struggling with tyre degradation which led him to losing out to Carlos Sainz on the final lap.

“I think we’ve improved the car quite a bit,” he added. We were definitely not contending anywhere close to pole yesterday. Today, we did. We’re still a bit off. We’re in a good position.

“I think actually our pace relative to Max over yesterday and today is a bit more similar. I probably expected the Ferrari and Mercedes to be a bit quicker today. Maybe they just got a bit more out of their car earlier in the weekend. We’ve been able to take a bigger step forward between the sprint and now. It’s going to be a tough race.

“Ferrari were very quick in the race with the degradation. Max is Max. They’re going to be fast. I am excited. It’s going to be a good battle - a good one to watch.”