MADRID (AP) — Lando Norris came out of nowhere to outduel Kimi Antonelli and take a big step toward winning the first Formula 1 race in Madrid in more than four decades by securing the important pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.
Antonelli had been the dominant driver in the Spanish capital this weekend, but Norris emerged with the fastest time in his final qualifying attempt with McLaren at the new Madring urban circuit that won’t yield many overtaking opportunities.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:31.824 |
| 2 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.011 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.140 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.189 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.195 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.325 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.470 |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | Red Bull | +0.492 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +1.079 |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | +1.217 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | Q2 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | Q2 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | Q2 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | Q2 |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda | Racing Bulls | Q2 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | Q2 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | Q1 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | Q1 |
| 19 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | Q1 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | No time |
| 21 | Ollie Bearman | Haas | No time |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | No time |
"I’m shocked. I’m a little bit surprised to be here," Norris said in the post-qualifying interview. "It was probably one of the best laps I’ve done ever in my career. Very, very happy, very proud. Very happy for the team."
Norris was sixth-fastest in the first practice session on Friday, then couldn’t run in the second session because of a gearbox problem and finished fourth in the final session on Saturday.
He said the "adrenaline was high" on the lap of 1 minute, 31.824 seconds that he set in qualifying, which was only one hundredth better than Antonelli’s time.
"It’s just one of those laps where everything came together," Norris said. "I had an idea of what I wanted to do, it was just a matter of my brain letting me do it on that last lap. Everything pretty much worked perfectly."
The 20-year-old Antonelli, who was coming off an epic come-from-behind win in front of his home fans in Monza, leads Mercedes' teammate George Russell by 66 points in the drivers’ standings.
It was the third pole of the season for Norris. He had won consecutive races in Hungary and in the Netherlands ahead of the Italian GP that Antonelli won.
Max Verstappen will start third with Red Bull, with a time one tenth of a second behind Norris, followed by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton - who crashed in the final practice session earlier Saturday - and Charles Leclerc. Russell was next. Hamilton had been provisionally ahead after the first attempts of the final qualifying run.
Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri finished in seventh place.
Antonelli said the start of the race Sunday could be key to the outcome.
"The start is very important for sure," he said. "Overtaking is going to be very difficult. The only thing you can do is try to put pressure on the car in front and make them make a mistake and then try to play with strategy."
It was a mostly clean session after two red flags affected the final practice session earlier Saturday at the unforgiving circuit that mixes existing roads with purpose-built sections.
The 5.4-kilometer (3.3-mile) Madring track has been giving drivers little margin for error.
Antonelli locked up tires and went straight but avoided crashing earlier in the qualifying session. Russell brushed the wall at one point.
Haas’ Oliver Bearman did not participate in qualifying because of a crash in the final practice session earlier Saturday.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also did not join qualifying after taking a grid penalty for switching power-unit components.
Local favorites struggle
As expected, the two Spaniards couldn’t give the home fans a lot of reason to celebrate.
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will start 18th with Aston Martin, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz will be 17th. Neither advanced past the first qualifying stage.
Organizers expected a total attendance of nearly 350,000 people at the track in the Spanish capital.
The Spanish GP is returning to the Madrid region for the first time in 45 years. It took place at the Jarama circuit in the capital’s outskirts in 1981. The Jerez de la Frontera track in southern Spain hosted races from 1986-90, and in 1994 and 1997. Barcelona has been hosting races in Spain the past few years. Madring signed a contract with F1 through 2035.
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