Norris will start ahead of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and George Russell (Williams) after the hour-long qualifying in which cars were shot at slick tires on the final lap as the track was so dry that the dry rubber could dry faster.
Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton starts fourth, but his slick tire drive was ruined when he crashed into the wall while entering the pits.
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Qualifying results for the Russian Grand Prix: Norris on pole for Sainz
What happened in Q1?
Despite fears that qualifying could be washed out after heavy rain in Sochi, the session started on time as planned. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will start the race from the end of the grid after an engine change, set the early pace with 1: 50.292 minutes on intermediate tires. Moments later, it was almost knocked out by Antonio Giovinazzi’s spinning Alfa Romeo.
At the front, the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton took over before Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took P1 with a lap time of 1: 46.455 minutes. Bottas regained the top spot with 1: 46.396 minutes before Hamilton beat everyone with 1: 45.992 minutes.
At the first hurdle, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher (Haas), Giovinazzi (Alfa), Nikita Mazepin (Haas) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who, like Leclerc, will start after a change from the end of the grid, crashed into Triebwerk. He took to the track in qualifying, but did not set a lap time.
Results at the Russian Grand Prix Q1: Hamilton fastest from Bottas
What happened in Q2?
The track dried out in the second quarter, with Hamilton setting the early pace with 1: 46.096 minutes before Bottas undercut it with 1: 45.506 seconds and then improved by a further tenth of a second on his next tour. Hamilton finally worked to 1: 45.129 minutes on his final lap to hold P1.
At this point, Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin, by five hundredths of a second), the AlphaTauris of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda as well as Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Leclerc, both of whom were due to network penalties for changing aggregates, were eliminated.
Results at the Russian Grand Prix Q2: Hamilton fastest from Bottas
What happened in the third quarter?
Since the track was now more greasy than wet, the cars initially drove on intermediates. Bottas set the early pace, but Hamilton immediately beat him with 1: 44.050 minutes. Norris jumped to P2 in his McLaren, 0.656 seconds behind the pace and 0.006 seconds ahead of Bottas.
Williams’ George Russell was the first to get involved in slicks, and a lap later everyone else followed suit. Hamilton hit the wall during the pit stop, broke his front wing and also delayed Bottas’ pit stop.
Sainz was the first to take pole on slicks with a lap of 1: 42.510 minutes before Norris beat him with 1: 41.993 minutes. Russell jumped to P3 and started ahead of Hamilton, who spun on his only slick lap and had to rely on his interim time.
Daniel Ricciardo starts fifth for McLaren, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Bottas, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Perez and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).
