Lando Norris takes Spanish Grand Prix pole in Madrid by 0.011 seconds over Kimi Antonelli

Norris secures Spanish Grand Prix pole in Madrid

McLaren driver Lando Norris earned pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix on the new Madring circuit after setting the fastest time on his final lap. Norris registered a lap time of 1:31.824, beating Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli by 0.011 seconds. The result places Antonelli alongside Norris on the front row of the starting grid. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen secured third position to lead the second row, qualifying ahead of Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton in fourth. Charles Leclerc placed the second Ferrari in fifth position, with Mercedes driver George Russell finishing sixth.

Practice incidents and continuous running in Q1

The qualifying session followed a difficult third practice session on Saturday morning, during which Hamilton struck the wall at the final corner. Hamilton managed to limit the damage to his car and entered qualifying on schedule. Oliver Bearman also struck the wall in practice and could not take part in qualifying. When the first qualifying phase began, most contenders took to the track immediately for continuous running rather than waiting in the garage. Gabriel Bortoleto established competitive early times while McLaren delayed their initial runs.

Liam Lawson temporarily claimed the top spot on soft compound tyres before Antonelli recovered from an early driving error to post the fastest Q1 time. Lawson improved to sit 0.043 seconds behind Antonelli before Russell moved ahead by a narrow margin. Hamilton and Leclerc advanced in sixth and seventh positions, with Hamilton edging his teammate by 0.001 seconds during their runs. The opening session concluded with the elimination of Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll, and Bearman, removing both Spanish drivers from their home event.

Verstappen paces Q2 as midfield battle settles

In the second qualifying phase, Mercedes maintained strong early pace through Antonelli before Verstappen recorded the fastest time of the segment, leading Antonelli by 0.046 seconds on his first run. Russell and Lawson also remained near the top of the timesheets. Hamilton and Leclerc improved on their second runs using scrubbed tyres, slotting into third and fourth positions close to Verstappen and Antonelli.

Verstappen lowered his benchmark further in the closing moments of Q2. Norris secured his advancement in sixth position, while Lawson finished the phase ahead of Russell. Six drivers failed to reach the top ten shootout at the end of Q2: Nico Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, and Alexander Albon.

Final shootout in Q3 and starting grid lineup

The final qualifying shootout opened with Antonelli setting the initial target time. Russell, Leclerc, and Norris were unable to eclipse Antonelli on their first runs, but Hamilton moved to provisional pole position with an advantage of 0.061 seconds. Verstappen sat fifth after his opening attempt.

During the decisive final runs, Antonelli moved back to the top of the timing screens. Hamilton surrendered his chance at pole position in the final sector of the lap, finishing fourth with a gap of 0.189 seconds to the top. Leclerc finished 0.195 seconds behind in fifth. Norris completed his lap at the end of the session to claim pole position. Behind sixth-placed Russell, Oscar Piastri qualified seventh for McLaren, Lawson took eighth for Red Bull, Franco Colapinto placed ninth for Alpine, and Arvid Lindblad finished tenth for Racing Bulls. The Spanish Grand Prix begins on Sunday at 15:00.