Norris snatches first Madring Spanish GP pole from Antonelli
Lando Norris snatched pole position for the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix from Formula 1 points leader Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011s in a breathless finale to qualifying at the Madring.
With Lewis Hamilton on provisional pole for Ferrari (1m32.079s) ahead of the Mercedes drivers after the first Q3 runs, Red Bull's Max Verstappen and the McLarens of Norris and Oscar Piastri waited until the very end of the session to set their final flying laps.
Norris - who was seventh in Q2 then fifth in Q1 - put in a lap of 1m31.824s right at the very end of Q3 as he found a second of laptime between Q2 and Q3.
He said it was "probably one of the best laps I've ever done" after taking his third pole position of 2026.
Verstappen improved as the clock ran out, but lost time in the final sector to qualify third, behind Antonelli, and 0.140s off Norris's pace.
Hamilton lost time in the first sector but still improved, only to qualify fourth and 0.189s off pole.
Charles Leclerc was just 0.005s behind Ferrari team-mate Hamilton as he rounded out the top five.
Mercedes' George Russell slid out of the final corner on his final effort, losing time and finishing sixth. His pace fell away after a table-topping performance in Q1, as he also finished sixth in Q2.
Piastri was off the pace throughout and finished seventh, 0.470s off his polesitting team-mate.
The other Red Bull of Liam Lawson was almost half a second off in eighth.
Alpine's Franco Colapinto rescued his car after it bottomed out at La Monumental in Q2 as he went on to secure ninth on the grid, having been one second off the pace in Q3.
Arvid Lindblad was two tenths further behind as he put his Racing Bulls 10th.
In Q2, Verstappen set the pace (with a 1m32.431s) to go 0.160s clear of Antonelli.
The speed trap-topping Audis were eliminated in Q2, with Nico Hulkenberg 11th and Gabriel Bortoleto another 0.165s off in 12th.
Esteban Ocon was 13th for Haas.
Monza polesitter Pierre Gasly lost a laptime to double yellows in Q2 and was eventually eliminated in 14th. "Compared to [FP3] it's a completely different car, I don’t get it," he said over the radio.
Replays also showed Gasly tapping the walls on the entry to Turn 16.
Racing Bulls's Yuki Tsunoda had a laptime deleted for track limits in Q2 and could not improve sufficiently. He was eliminated in 15th, one place ahead of Williams's Alex Albon - who was 3.101s off the ultimate pace in Q2.
Madrilenian Carlos Sainz was eliminated in 17th in Q1, having lapped just 0.005s slower than Williams team-mate Albon - who missed FP3 with suspension damage.
Both Aston Martins were eliminated in Q1: Fernando Alonso (18th) missed out by 0.076s and Lance Stroll did not execute a flying lap due to a suspected water pressure issue.
Stroll is set to start at the back of the grid with engine penalties.
The Cadillacs were split by two seconds with Sergio Perez 19th and Valtteri Bottas 20th.
Ollie Bearman failed to turn a lap in Q1 due to his FP3 crash, calling that a "shame" given the potential of his Haas.
Qualifying result
1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1m31.824s
2 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.011s
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.140s
4 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.189s
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.195s
6 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.325s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.470s
8 Liam Lawson (Red Bull) +0.492s
9 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.079s
10 Arvid Lindblad (Alpine) +1.217s
Q2
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +0.019s (to Q3)
12 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +0.184s
13 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.463s
14 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +0.549s
15 Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls) +0.880s
16 Alex Albon (Williams) +2.328s
Q1
17 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.005s (to Q2)
18 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.081s
19 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +0.606s
20 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +2.704s
21 Ollie Bearman (Haas) no time
22 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) no time
