Lando Norris Stuns Antonelli to Claim Pole in Madrid

World Champion Lando Norris secured his third pole position of the Formula 1 season, dominating qualifying ahead of tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.

The Briton snatched the top spot on the grid with a blistering lap right at the end of qualifying, clocking in at 1:31.824. This put him a mere 0.011 seconds ahead of championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had also delivered a strong run and thought he had pole secured, only for Norris to deliver a shock.

Max Verstappen will start third tomorrow, finishing 0.140 behind Norris, with Lewis Hamilton lining up alongside the Dutchman on the second row. The Briton had led after the initial flying laps in Q3, then improved his time, but still dropped three positions to start fourth.

His teammate Charles Leclerc will start from fifth, sharing the third row with George Russell. Behind them, Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Franco Colapinto, and Arvid Lindblad will complete the top 10 on the grid.

Just a week after his fantastic pole position at Monza, Pierre Gasly failed to even make it into Q3, finishing a disappointing 14th at the end of Q2. He was 0.549 seconds adrift of Lindblad, who rounded out the top 10. Nico Hülkenberg was agonizingly close to the top ten, just 0.019 seconds behind Lindblad, and will share the sixth row with his Audi teammate Gabriel Bortoleto. Esteban Ocon will join Gasly on the seventh row, while Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon will start from the eighth row.

Both home favorites, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, failed to progress past Q1, qualifying 17th and 18th respectively. Sainz finished 0.005 seconds behind his Williams teammate Albon. Along with them, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Oliver Bearman, and Lance Stroll were also eliminated.

Bearman did not participate in qualifying at all after his heavy crash at the end of Free Practice 3, and Stroll also failed to set a time. The Canadian, who was already set to start last due to using additional power unit components, went out on track but did not complete a single fast lap.

The Spanish Grand Prix, the 14th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season, is scheduled for tomorrow at 4:00 PM Bulgarian time and can be followed live on Sportal.bg.