Norris takes Madrid pole with 'gorgeous' lap

Lando Norris secured a remarkable pole position for McLaren at the Spanish Grand Prix, outpacing Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull's Max Verstappen by just 0.011 seconds. The British driver described his lap as "gorgeous", and claimed it might be his best ever. Verstappen finished 0.140 seconds behind Norris, while Hamilton's Ferrari fell to fourth.

Norris had started the qualifying session in seventh place, just 0.449 seconds behind the leading Ferrari. The session had initially been predicted to be chaotic following two red flags during practice, but it ran smoothly without any incidents. Norris' performance came as a surprise, as he had been fifth in the first session and seventh in the second. He attributed his success to a perfect execution of his plan.