Poleman Norris shocked by ‘one of the best laps of my career’

Lando Norris emerged from the inaugural qualifying session at Madrid’s Madring looking almost as surprised as everyone else after producing a stunning final lap to snatch pole position from championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

The reigning world champion had appeared to be heading for another Mercedes pole after Antonelli set the benchmark on the final runs. But Norris somehow found the extra fraction he needed, crossing the line just 0.011 seconds faster with a 1m31.824s lap.

For a driver who had been chasing Mercedes throughout the weekend, the result was as unexpected as it was exhilarating.

‘One of the best lap I’ve ever done’

Norris admitted he could scarcely believe what he had just achieved, particularly on a circuit where the slightest hesitation can send a car towards the walls.

“I'm shocked. I'm a little bit surprised to be here now,” an elated Norris said as he took his third pole of the campaign, and his third in four grands prix.

“My god, it was probably one of the best laps I've done ever in my career. I'm very, very happy, very proud, very happy for the team. It was just one of those laps where everything came together.

“I had a good idea of what I wanted to do, but it was whether my brain let me do it on the last lap, and everything pretty much worked perfectly. I'm just very happy. One of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end, and you're like. 'Oh, shit, that was pretty good."

The 5.4km Madring had already established itself as one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar, combining rapid corners with unforgiving walls and minimal room for error.

Yet those characteristics also created the perfect conditions for Norris to unleash everything his McLaren had to offer.

‘Everything kind of came together’

With Antonelli setting the pace immediately before him, Norris knew there was no margin for hesitation. He had to attack – but remain composed enough to keep the car out of the barriers.

“The adrenaline was high on the last lap;" Norris reported. "It's just one where you've just got to relax, just let it all flow.

“It's easy to get tense around here, and there's a lot of walls that come at you pretty quickly. I just took a good breath, and everything kind of came together, so it was pretty much perfect.

“By the last corner, I thought I was in the wall, and I thought the boys were going to have to repair the car tonight.”

Instead, Norris emerged with pole by the slimmest of margins, denying Antonelli a seventh pole of the season and giving McLaren a major boost heading into Sunday’s first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring.

After a lap that even Norris described as among the best of his career, the reigning champion will now have the perfect vantage point from which to attack the championship leader when the lights go out.

2026 Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying Results

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