Lando Norris will start Formula 1’s first Spanish Grand Prix at the Madring from pole position after edging championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.011s in qualifying on Saturday.
Norris’s 1m31.824s came on his final run in Q3, taking top spot away from Antonelli, who had led with a 1m31.835s. It is Norris’s third pole of the 2026 season.
Max Verstappen qualified third for Red Bull with a 1m31.964s, ahead of the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton (1m32.013s) and Charles Leclerc (1m32.019s). The top five were covered by less than two tenths of a second.
George Russell took sixth in the second Mercedes, with Oscar Piastri seventh for McLaren. Liam Lawson was eighth, Franco Colapinto ninth and Arvid Lindblad tenth. Lindblad reached Q3 a day after his heavy crash brought out the red flag in Friday’s second practice session.
Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were eliminated in Q2, qualifying 11th and 12th for Audi.
Two drivers did not set a lap time. Oliver Bearman sat out the session after Haas was unable to repair the damage from his crash in third practice. Lance Stroll stopped with what Aston Martin described as a suspected water pressure issue.
Stroll is in line for a grid penalty regardless, after Aston Martin exceeded his season allocation of power unit components — his car has taken a fifth internal combustion engine, turbocharger and MGU-K, a sixth energy store and a seventh PU-ANC.
Carlos Sainz was placed under investigation for impeding, leaving the starting grid subject to change.
The Madring, a 5.4km, 22-corner layout at the IFEMA site near Madrid-Barajas Airport, hosted its first Formula 1 qualifying session on Saturday. Despite pre-event concern about traffic and limited run-off through its street sections, the session ran without a stoppage.
The Spanish Grand Prix is scheduled for Sunday.
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