McLaren Racing’s young speedy Lando Norris secure his first F1 pole at Sochi for Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix. Ferrari ace Carlos Sainz set second fastest ahead of Williams youngster George Russell.

Practice pace setter Lewis Hamilton ruined his pole opportunity following the crash at Pit-lane entry and later his spung in sector 3 on his final attempt.

Norris set the best lap with a time of 1 minute, 41.993 seconds in the dry condition of the session after switching to soft compound as the racing line dried. Final session slick compound gambling resulted surprising grid line-up for tomorrow Russian GP race.

Asked if he had processed the achievement, Norris said on the official website of Formula 1: “I don’t know. Yes, I mean it’s just an awesome feeling like altogether. I don’t know what to say. it just feels like you’ve qualified well but it’s a pole position which doesn’t come around much – it’s obviously my first one in x amount of races. Could be my first one for a while or my only pole for a while so yes, feels amazing especially in these conditions.

“It’s tricky; you have to put a lot of risk on the line and just try to see if it pays off and it did. So, yes, an amazing feeling, my first pole. Probably the only place I wouldn’t want to be pole is here, especially with the straight down to Turn 1,” he admitted.

Norris said he was “happy” to take his first pole but was still hesitant about leading the field when the lights go out on Sunday.

“I’m not really looking forward it! I’m not looking forward to being first down to Turn 1 tomorrow but it’s going to set us up well, we’re in the best position we can be and I’m happy – it’s my first pole position, hopefully the first of many. I don’t know, I’m just happy, I don’t really know what to say,” he maintained.

“It was tough,” he said. “I want to make myself sound good but it was tricky you know because it was that crossover section, and the lap before I was like two seconds down and I wasn’t very confident we were going to improve on the previous lap – but then I kept my tyres warm and prepared the final lap. I risked quite a bit, I’m going to admit, and it paid off so I’m a happy boy,” he added.