Lando Norris takes stunning Spanish Grand Prix pole with career-best lap
World champion Norris had not crept to the top of the timesheets at any point during the weekend in the Spanish capital, but pulled out a magical lap.
Lando Norris appeared out of nowhere to edge out championship leader Kimi Antonelli and take an incredible pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.
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World champion Norris had not crept to the top of the timesheets at any point during the weekend in the Spanish capital, but pulled out a magical lap.
The achievement was even hailed by the British driver as one of the best of his career – to see off Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds.
Max Verstappen will start from third place for the inaugural event at the Madring, a spot ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who at one stage looked set to land his first pole in Ferrari colours.
George Russell, the nearest title challenger to Antonelli, will start a disappointing sixth.
Norris sparked hopes of defending his world crown with a string of wins in Hungary and then the Netherlands, but a fourth place last time out in Monza leaves him 96 points adrift of Antonelli in the standings.
But Norris was performing at his best at the hell-raising street venue on the outskirts of Madrid to secure top spot. To illustrate his speed, he was almost half-a-second faster than Oscar Piastri, who, in the other McLaren, had to settle for seventh.
“I am shocked and a little bit surprised to be here now, but my God, it was probably one of the best laps I have done in my career,” said a jubilant Norris.
“It was one of those laps where everything came together. It was just whether my brain allowed me to do it, and in the end it was perfect.
“You look at the lap time, and you are like, ‘Oh s***, that feels pretty good’.”
Hamilton crashed out of final practice at a venue described by Russell as “mental” and Verstappen as a “car killer” in the build-up to this week’s event.
However, qualifying passed by without any accidents, although Russell grazed the wall in Q1 and teammate Antonelli locked up and ran off the track but avoided an unwanted date with the barriers.
Hamilton’s car had been repaired for qualifying, and he was 0.061 seconds ahead of Antonelli and almost two tenths clear of Russell as he lay down a marker after the opening runs in the decisive Q3 running.
That allowed Hamilton to dream of ending a three-year wait for pole position, only for Antonelli to usurp him at the summit with his final lap in Q3.
Verstappen also improved to move ahead of Hamilton before Norris ended up on top with a spellbinding lap.
Further back, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso provided little cheer for the home crowd when they were both eliminated from Q1.
The Spanish pair have scored just nine points between them amid miserable campaigns for their respective Williams and Aston Martin teams.
Sainz will start Sunday’s race from 17th, one place ahead of Fernando Alonso. Lance Stroll did not post a competitive lap following a water pressure failure in his Aston Martin, while British driver Ollie Bearman had to sit out qualifying. Bearman crashed out of final practice earlier on Saturday, and his Haas mechanics were unable to repair his car in time.
