Norris predicts ‘the opposite of Mexico’ after ‘unnecessary pressure’ in Sao Paulo Qualifying

Lando Norris pulled through at the final opportunity to seize pole position from his rivals in a closely-fought Qualifying in Sao Paulo, admitting that Sunday's Grand Prix will be a far greater challenge than his most recent victory in Mexico City.

The small margins separating the field meant that despite his Sprint pole position and win earlier in the weekend, it was far from certain that the McLaren driver would sail back to first place in Qualifying.

This came to fruition on the initial runs in Q3, when a lock-up saw Norris resigned to P10 on the timesheets, leaving him with a single shot to beat the likes of Ollie Bearman and Oscar Piastri at the top of the provisional order.

His final lap proved to be enough and he finished the hour over a tenth ahead of his nearest challenger Kimi Antonelli, replicating the front row from the Sprint, but the intense competition has left the Briton predicting a complex Grand Prix.

Prompted on whether he would enjoy another race like the Mexico Grand Prix, in which he took a lights-to-flag victory 30 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc, he replied that he is expecting “the opposite of Mexico”.

“I don’t think it’s going to be as simple,” he said. “Like we saw this morning, the Mercedes is very quick. They showed again now that they’re very quick so I’m not getting overly excited. I think we have a lot of work to do tonight to make sure they stay away from us."

Alluding to his Sprint battle with Antonelli, Norris also said: “I learned that Kimi pushes all the way to the very end. In some ways I’m looking forward to it, and in some ways I’m not.

"I think it’s going to be a big challenge tomorrow. We need to see what the weather’s going to do again. So far, this weekend has been clean so I’m hoping they don’t ruin it!”

Track conditions improved slightly between the damp Sprint and Qualifying, but the wind still added another element of difficulty to a session where typical midfield teams like Haas and Racing Bulls were fighting for a place towards the front of the grid.

Norris summarised: “It was tough out there with the conditions. It was just slippery, inconsistent, but good fun. It’s always a pleasure around this track so I felt good.

“I was under a bit of pressure because I locked up on my first lap so it was a little bit more stressful than I would have liked but I stayed calm and put it all together when it mattered so I’m very happy.

“The team are good at giving me a great car, of course, so I’ve always got to thank the team. I didn’t make it easy for them or for myself. I’m still having to push.

“It just puts unnecessary pressure on myself, and the others are doing a good job. I think when I’m in a good rhythm, when I can stay calm, when I can just put it all together, then I’ll be on top.”