The ultimate Briton on the grid, Haas driver Oliver Bearman, will begin final after a tough weekend.
His gearbox failed on his first lap out of the pits in qualifying, after a crash in second follow and a spin into the gravel within the last session value him monitor time at first of his first full season.
Of the six rookies on the grid, probably the most spectacular efficiency got here from Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who out-qualified his skilled Sauber team-mate Nico Hulkenberg with fifteenth place, the German two spots additional again.
Norris was happy by his efficiency however his most important concern was the race, for which rain is predicted.
He stated: “It is the proper option to begin the yr. Everybody at McLaren has accomplished an incredible job to begin with a one-two however it’s simply qualifying, let’s have a look at tomorrow, it’ll be a difficult race however this can be a good option to begin.
“The automotive is extraordinarily fast and whenever you put it collectively it is unbelievable however it’s tough to place collectively.
“Notably after the primary lap, once I went off and misplaced my lap, you are in a difficult place – you should threat it however not go too far as a result of you may’t make a mistake. It is a tough steadiness. We all know how fast Max and Pink Bull are within the rain.”
Verstappen stated he didn’t imagine he might have made the distinction to beat the McLarens even with an ideal lap.
“Yesterday was fairly robust so to be in P3, I take that,” he stated. “The qualifying laps had been very thrilling, loads of good grip round right here and a few quick corners in order that’s all the time very enjoyable in an F1 automotive.
“Ultimately the hole was fairly huge to them so it would not have made a distinction when it comes to place. Moist or dry, I do not thoughts, however within the moist loads of loopy issues can occur.”
Bearman rued his errors in follow as he digested his weekend to date.
“I made my life very tough by performing badly, lower than normal, within the follow classes and the difficulty with the gearbox just about sums up the weekend,” he stated.
