Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying: Norris takes pole with 'perfect lap'
Lando Norris clocked a perfect lap to put McLaren on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday, denying Red Bull's triple Formula One world champion Max Verstappen the top spot.
Verstappen had taken provisional pole with a time that appeared difficult to beat, but Norris took it to the next level, going 0.020 faster than his Dutch rival at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
The 24-year-old Briton's pole was only his second in Formula One, with the last coming at the Russian Grand Prix in 2021.
"It was pretty much a perfect lap. You know when you are on a good lap and you are getting excited," Norris said after setting a time of one minute 11.383 seconds.
"It has been close all weekend but really it was about a perfect lap and that is what I did today."
Verstappen, the championship leader, set a lap time of 1:11.673 to take provisional pole, which was slower than his 1:11.653 in the second phase, but improved to 1:11.403 on his second run.
The driver, who began the season with seven consecutive poles and is chasing his third Spanish victory in a row, may have thought the job was done.
"I was quite happy in qualifying. I got a nice (aerodynamic) tow from Checo (team mate Sergio Perez) in Q3 (the final phase) but unfortunately it was not enough," said Verstappen.
"That's how it goes sometimes, but overall we can still be happy with that performance and it's all to play for tomorrow."
Norris was the fourth different driver to start on pole in the last four races, indicating that the battle between the top teams is becoming increasingly intense and Red Bull's dominance is eroding.
Pole position in Spain has translated into victory 24 times in 33 races at the track north of Barcelona, with only three drivers winning without starting on the front row, including Verstappen in 2016.
The pole was a boost for McLaren, whose day began with unwanted drama when their paddock hospitality unit caught fire, sending one team member to the hospital as a precaution before being released.
Norris was among those inside the structure when it was hurriedly evacuated, resulting in the driver losing a pair of shoes and having to prepare for qualifying without his usual music.
"I have one or two sets of everything and they managed to get some stuff out, some of it smells pretty bad from the fire," he said.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was third fastest by just 0.002 seconds over teammate George Russell.
"Slowly the car is crafting into a racing machine with which we can hopefully fight the guys in front," said seven-times world champion Hamilton, who outqualified his team mate for only the second time in 10 races this season.
Russell had become enraged when Hamilton slowed ahead of him to prepare for his flying lap, but later admitted that he had been "a bit hotheaded" on the radio.
"As a team, we are in the mix. I think Lando did a really great lap. I don’t think Lewis or I put it together perfectly. I felt there were two tenths on the table," he said.
"We’re on the second row and I think it’s going to be a good fight with Lando and Max tomorrow. I think we’ll probably just have the edge on Ferrari."
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, preparing for a home race, occupied the third row.
Pierre Gasly boosted struggling Alpine's morale with seventh place on the grid for the Renault-owned team, while Perez finished eighth but will drop three places due to a grid penalty.
Alpine's Esteban Ocon will move up to eighth, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri in ninth after his final laps were deleted for exceeding track limits, and Aston Martin's home hero Fernando Alonso in tenth.
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