{"id":614075,"date":"2026-09-12T18:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/614075\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T18:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:44:13","slug":"lando-norris-shocks-himself-by-pipping-kimi-antonelli-to-f1-spanish-gp-pole-formula-one-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/614075\/","title":{"rendered":"Lando Norris shocks himself by pipping Kimi Antonelli to F1 Spanish GP pole | Formula One 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proving that timing is all, not least in making a statement, Lando Norris<\/a> kept his very best to last for a moment that must be considered close to Formula One perfection. His pole position at the sport\u2019s newest circuit, the Madring, for the Spanish Grand Prix was so immense it left him shocked. Not least in that he had not threatened the top of the timesheets at any point over the weekend until the final lap of the final session, and then he was masterly.<\/p>\n

On a circuit that has proved punishingly unforgiving with some major crashes, keeping it clean was vital, but for the top spot, absolute commitment and inch-perfect execution was the differentiator in threading the needle inside the looming walls of this high-speed challenge.<\/p>\n

Norris had it nailed from nowhere, admitting it had all come together in one of those almost unworldly moments drivers occasionally experience, of instinct, touch, speed and judgment combining to remarkable effect.<\/p>\n

It had to be to beat the championship leader, Mercedes\u2019 Kimi Antonelli, who had showed his own flair and commitment, into second by one hundredth of a second, with Red Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen in third.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideSpanish F1 qualifyingShow<\/p>\n

1 Lando Norris \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 McLaren 1:31.824
2 Kimi Antonelli \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9 Mercedes 1:31.835
3 Max Verstappen \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 Red Bull 1:31.964
4 Lewis Hamilton \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Ferrari 1:32.013
5 Charles Leclerc \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde8 Ferrari 1:32.019
6 George Russell \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Mercedes 1:32.149
7 Oscar Piastri \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddfa McLaren 1:32.294
8 Liam Lawson \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddff Red Bull 1:32.316
9 Franco Colapinto \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf7 Alpine 1:32.903
10 Arvid Lindblad \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Racing Bulls 1:33.041<\/p>\n

Eliminated in Q2
11 Nico H\u00fclkenberg \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea Audi 1:33.223
12 Gabriel Bortoleto \ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddf7 Audi 1:33.388
13 Esteban Ocon \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Haas 1:33.667
14 Pierre Gasly \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Alpine 1:33.753
15 Yuki Tsunoda \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5 Racing Bulls 1:34.084
16 Alexander Albon \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\udded Williams 1:35.532<\/p>\n

Eliminated in Q1
\u202017 Carlos Sainz \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 Williams 1:35.312
18 Fernando Alonso \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 Aston Martin 1:35.388
19 Sergio P\u00e9rez \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd Cadillac 1:35.913
20 Valtteri Bottas \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddee Cadillac 1:38.011<\/p>\n

No time
Oliver Bearman \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 Haas
Lance Stroll \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 Aston Martin
\u2020Three-place penalty for impeding Bottas<\/p>\n

Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a little bit surprised to be here now, but it was probably one of the best laps I\u2019ve done in my career,\u201d said Norris. \u201cOne of those laps where everything just 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 pretty much everything worked perfectly.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end, and you are like: \u2018Oh shit, that was pretty good.\u2019 For the last corner, I thought I was in the wall and the boys were going to have to repair the car tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norris did just kiss up against the wall with his left rear on the final corner. The achievement was put in perspective by the McLaren<\/a> team principal, Andrea Stella, an engineer not given to hyperbole at the best of times. \u201cThat\u2019s a bit of masterpiece,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the final corner he made a mistake of three-tenths. So he was on a just incredible lap. Definitely one of the best of his life until the last corner. He just realised what\u2019s available in the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is was at such a challenging circuit made it all the more special, more so given how competitive the opposition were. Antonelli, Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth, had all been in the mix after the first runs in Q3, but it was Norris who found the edge.<\/p>\n

Kimi Antonelli (left) will start second on the grid in Madrid, with Lando Norris (centre) on pole and Max Verstappen third. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura\/Reuters<\/p>\n

After his outstanding victory from 19th on the grid at the last round in Monza, Antonelli leads Russell by 66 points in the championship. Hamilton is 76 points back in third place and Norris 96 adrift.<\/p>\n

The pole may prove to be absolutely vital for him. The Madring is described as a street circuit, but it is made up of public roads and purpose-built track. It does, however, conform to street-circuit norms of being narrow and unforgiving.<\/p>\n

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The layout produces high speeds, but there have been real concerns from drivers that overtaking will be extremely difficult, especially with braking zones angled into corners, which makes passing enormously tricky. Leading cars will simply take to the middle of the track ensuring a move is unfeasible, making a procession on Sunday a real risk and track position, which Norris has, crucial.<\/p>\n

Strategy will be key, as will calls made under flags both yellow and red, with the latter almost certain to play a part given the likelihood of stoppages to deal with the results of any driver errors or mechanical failures. It will also be informed by what is a high-grip, but also high-degradation, surface.<\/p>\n

The Madring circuit in Madrid is known for being an unforgiving track. Photograph: Albert Gea\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The session was also a suitably tense, dramatic show and notable for proceeding without incident despite there being some major crashes over the weekend. The 3.365-mile circuit had been designed to be fast and a spectacle, but it is an enormously challenging and, as some have intimated, dangerous test. Quite how unforgiving was once more demonstrated in final practice when the red flags were brought out after Hamilton went into the wall as he locked up and hit the barriers nose-first at the final corner.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Oliver Bearman also took a massive hit, having spun and slewed side-on into the concrete barriers at turn 10, wiping out the left side of his car. He was unhurt, but the damage was so bad his Haas team were unable to rebuild the car in time for qualifying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proving that timing is all, not least in making a statement, Lando Norris kept his very best to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-614075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}