Spanish GP: Lando Norris beats Kimi Antonelli to first pole position at Madring after thrilling qualifying finale

13.09.2026, 09:27 skysports.com

Lando Norris produced a stunning lap to beat Kimi Antonelli to the first pole position at Formula 1's all-new Madring circuit in a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying.

The McLaren driver hadn't appeared to be in contention for pole at any point of the session, but found a huge amount of pace on his final run to edge out championship leader Antonelli by 11 thousandths of a second.

Max Verstappen, who had surged into pole contention earlier in the session, edged out Lewis Hamilton for third after the Ferrari driver produced a strong recovery having crashed in final practice earlier on Saturday.

Charles Leclerc starts behind his Ferrari team-mate in fifth, while Antonelli's Mercedes team-mate and nearest championship challenger, George Russell, could only manage sixth.

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The remarkable nature of Norris' lap was further highlighted by a near-half second gap to his team-mate Oscar Piastri in seventh.

Norris said: "I'm shocked! A little bit surprised to be here now. My god, that was probably one of the best laps I've done in my career.

"Very, very happy. Very proud, very happy for the team. Just one of those laps where everything came together.

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1) Lando Norris, McLaren2) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull4) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari5) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari6) George Russell, Mercedes7) Oscar Piastri, McLaren8) Liam Lawson, Red Bull9) Franco Colapinto, Alpine10) Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls

"I had a good idea of what I wanted to do. It was whether my brain let me do it on the last lap. Everything pretty much worked perfectly."

With overtaking expected to prove difficult around the tight circuit, Norris has given himself a strong chance of claiming a third victory in four races and reducing a 96-point deficit to Antonelli.

Despite losing out to Norris, Antonelli is well positioned to extend his 66-point championship lead over Russell and move closer to a maiden title, with nine rounds remaining after Sunday's race.

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Red Bull's Liam Lawson, who continues to deputise for the injured Isack Hadjar, was eighth, while Alpine's Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls' Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.

A supreme collective display of driving saw the session pass without any of the red-flag stoppages that had been expected at the hugely challenging new circuit.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman was unable to participate due to the heavy damage done to his car in a big crash in final practice, but there were only kisses rather than heavy contact with the barriers as the field pushed to the limit in qualifying.

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With F1 returning to Madrid for the first time since 1981 as the capital city takes over from Barcelona as the Spanish Grand Prix host, the locals were left disappointed as both Williams' Carlos Sainz and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso were knocked out in Q1, with the former demoted from 17th to 20th by a grid penalty for impeding.

There had been high expectations for McLaren coming into the weekend given Norris had recorded back-to-back pole positions and race victories either side of the summer break at similar-style circuits before Antonelli won last weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

However, that pace failed to materialise throughout practice, and Norris' personal challenge was severely heightened when he missed almost the entirety of Friday's second session because of a gearbox failure.

Mercedes looked as though they may have it all their own way before Verstappen flashed strong pace in Q2 to suggest he was capable of contending for pole.

Then, Ferrari, who had started the weekend strongly, suddenly rediscovered their pace as Hamilton took provisional pole after the first runs in Q3.

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A thrilling finale was in store, and it begun with Antonelli displacing Hamilton from pole, before the Brit improved but failed to reclaim top spot.

Attention then turned to Norris and Verstappen, who were both lighting up the timesheet with fast sector times.

Norris had a massive slide in the final corner that almost took him into the barrier. It cost him around two to three tenths of a second, but he still edged out Antonelli.

Verstappen produced the fastest middle sector of the session but couldn't keep up his speed in the final part of the lap and had to settle for third.

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"It was pretty much perfect," Norris reflected. "Bar the last corner, I thought I was in the wall and the boys would have to repair the car tonight.

"It could have been a little bit better - but one of the best laps I've done."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella shared Norris' assessment that it was one of the best laps of the reigning world champion's career.

"It was a masterpiece," Stella told Sky Sports F1. "We have seen across the whole weekend, if we put it altogether, we are not far from the best cars.

"We worked our way step by step to try to put all the performance together. Lando did it only on the final run in Q3 and in the final corner he made a mistake of three tenths. It was an incredible lap - one of the best of his life until the last corner."

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Sunday September 138.40am: F3 Feature Race 210.20am: F2 Feature Race12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Spanish GP build-up2pm: THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX4pm: Chequered Flag: Spanish GP reaction5pm: Ted's Notebook

*also on Sky Sports Main Event

Formula 1 is in Madrid for the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit with Sunday's race at 2pm (build-up from 12.30pm), live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime