F1 Grand Prix of Qatar - Practice & Sprint Qualifying - Source: Getty
Lando Norris revealed after securing pole position for the F1 Qatar GP sprint that this was closer than what he had expected. The McLaren driver secured pole for the sprint by a margin of just .063 from Mercedes driver George Russell.
Coming into the race weekend, the track characteristics did lean heavily towards McLaren, as the fast-flowing sections are where the car tends to be in its element. With that being said, P1 had shown Ferrari having impressive pace.
Coming into the sprint qualifying, McLaren was not the outright favorite, as Ferrari was also considered to be in contention. When the session unfolded, however, that's not how things panned out, as by SQ3, Lando Norris and McLaren in general had pulled out a gap over the chasing pack.
