Lando Norris will endeavour to make the most of his "amazing" maiden pole position at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The 21-year-old British driver finished quickest in his McLaren in Sochi on Saturday, edging out Carlos Sainz, while compatriot George Russell was third.

Lewis Hamilton will start from fourth on the grid, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, while Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll make up the rest of the front eight.

Championship leader Max Verstappen will start from the back of the grid after his Red Bull had a new engine installed.

Norris, who made his Formula One debut in 2019, hopes to capitalise on a shock opportunity after a thrilling rain-affected qualifying session.

"It’s my first in X number of races, and it could be my only pole for a while. It feels amazing, especially in these conditions," Norris told a media conference.

"Another race win for McLaren would be lovely. But I don’t expect so, I think Mercedes are a long way up the road from us and Red Bull probably similar.

"I think with either conditions I can look forward to it. We can score some good points, we can have a good race, because we are in the best position possible."

Norris joked the circuit in Sochi was not ideal for his first-ever pole but is hopeful he can make a good start to the race.

He added: "Probably the only place I wouldn’t want to be pole is here, especially with the straight down to turn one, but I’m still very happy.

"We saw that the cars are in a good position, in the wet now and also in the dry. It's a long run down to turn one or turn two, so I have to look forward to that and make sure I prepare for that well."

Ferrari driver Sainz acknowledged the front two can expect to be tested by their rivals, but the nature of the track may give them some assistance.

"It’s a strange circuit, this one, because obviously race pace is important and we need to see how easy it is to overtake," said the Spaniard.

"Normally in the past it has been quite tricky. Obviously, we have the two Mercs and the Red Bull that are going to be pushing us a lot.

"They are clearly, around here, half a second to a second quicker than us, so at some point they will put pressure on us and we will need to see if we can keep ourselves ahead.

"Obviously, the target is to finish ahead of them, try to get Lando at the start – although I am starting on the dirty side, he is at least starting on the clean side – and see from there if we can race hard and have some fun at the front."