Norris pips Antonelli to Madring pole

MADRID (AP):

Lando Norris came out of nowhere to outduel Kimi Antonelli and take a big step towards winning the first Formula One race in Madrid in more than four decades by securing the crucial pole position for yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Antonelli had been the dominant driver in the Spanish capital throughout the weekend, but Norris emerged with the fastest time on his final qualifying attempt for McLaren at the new Madring urban circuit, which is not expected to provide many overtaking opportunities.

“I’m shocked. I’m a little bit surprised to be here,” Norris said in the post-qualifying interview. “It was probably one of the best laps I’ve done ever in my career. Very, very happy, very proud. Very happy for the team.”

Norris was sixth fastest in Friday’s opening practice session, then was unable to run in the second session because of a gearbox problem before finishing fourth in Saturday’s final practice.

He said the “adrenaline was high” during the lap of one minute, 31.824 seconds that secured pole position, just one-hundredth of a second quicker than Antonelli’s time.

“It’s just one of those laps where everything came together,” Norris said. “I had an idea of what I wanted to do, it was just a matter of my brain letting me do it on that last lap. Everything pretty much worked perfectly.”

The 20-year-old Antonelli, who was coming off an epic come-from-behind win in front of his home fans in Monza, leads Mercedes teammate George Russell by 66 points in the drivers’ standings.

It was Norris’ third pole position of the season. He had won consecutive races in Hungary and the Netherlands ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, which Antonelli won.

Max Verstappen will start third for Red Bull, one-tenth of a second behind Norris, followed by the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton, who crashed in Saturday’s final practice session, and Charles Leclerc. Russell was next. Hamilton had held provisional pole after the first runs in the final qualifying segment.

Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri qualified seventh.

Antonelli said the start of today’s race could be key to the outcome.

“The start is very important for sure,” he said. “Overtaking is going to be very difficult. The only thing you can do is try to put pressure on the car in front and make them make a mistake and then try to play with strategy.”

It was a largely clean session after two red flags disrupted final practice earlier yesterday at the unforgiving circuit, which combines existing roads with purpose-built sections.

The 5.4-kilometre (3.3-mile) Madring track has given drivers little margin for error.

Antonelli locked up his tyres and ran straight on but avoided crashing earlier in qualifying. Russell also brushed the wall at one stage.

Haas’ Oliver Bearman did not participate in qualifying because of a crash in the final practice session earlier yesterday.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll also missed qualifying after taking a grid penalty for changing power-unit components.

LOCAL FAVOURITES STRUGGLE

As expected, the two Spaniards were unable to give the home fans much reason to celebrate.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso will start 18th for Aston Martin, while Williams’ Carlos Sainz will line up 17th. Neither advanced beyond the first qualifying segment.

Organisers expected a total attendance of nearly 350,000 people at the circuit in the Spanish capital.

The Spanish Grand Prix returned to the Madrid region for the first time in 45 years. It was last held there at the Jarama circuit on the outskirts of the capital in 1981. The Jerez de la Frontera circuit in southern Spain hosted races from 1986 to 1990, and again in 1994 and 1997. Barcelona has hosted Spain’s Formula One races in recent years. Madring has a contract with Formula One through 2035.