Lando Norris conquers the first historic pole at the MadRing in Madrid

The first historic pole at the MadRing in Spain, the unprecedented Formula 1 street circuit, is signed by Lando Norris. The world champion from McLaren beat Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes by just 11 thousandths, while in the second row Max Verstappen was placed in the second row with the Red Bull, 140 thousandths from the pole, flanked by Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari. Third row for the other Red car of Charles Leclerc and for the Mercedes of George Russell.

Fourth row for Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson, fifth for Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad. A first position conquered by Norris was very important on a circuit where it won't be easy to overtake: the Englishman made the right move at the end, taking the eleven thousandths needed to move the world championship leader's Mercedes to the outside of the front row. "I'm extremely surprised, I think it was one of the best qualifying laps of my career - said Norris - one of those where you really manage to put everything together. Everything went perfectly.

I knew I had a shot at pole position but then actually doing it is a completely different thing. Initially I wasn't fully confident, but then I relaxed and everything changed. I let my McLaren slide right up to the wall. Touching them takes a moment but luckily it's gone. I gave myself the best position possible for the start of the Grand Prix. It's true that on this track it's difficult to overtake but next to me and immediately behind me I have two very difficult customers."

For his part, Antonelli has to digest Saturday's verdict but pays tribute to his McLaren rival: "Congratulations to Norris. I gave everything I had but I struggled a bit at the end. It's not easy to put together the perfect lap on a track like this. Overall, however, we did a good job." Disappointment at Ferrari for not being able to raise its head in qualifying in Madrid after the flop in Monza. If Hamilton takes issue with the red team's failure to change pace in the final time attack, his Monegasque teammate looks to the race to try to improve his fifth fastest time on the starting grid under the checkered flag.

"Evidently we weren't on pole - indicates the seven-time world champion - even when we were in front. Maybe our rivals cranked up the engine at the end, or they have something that we don't have and we can't do more than that. We have an extra set of tires for the race but it's not who knows what advantage because then in the end things balance out".

For Leclerc, however, "the sensations were quite good, I certainly paid a bit in terms of the power unit but I think that today we squeezed everything out of the car. Of course, in hindsight you think that you could have done something better here and there but it's the same for everyone. Fifth place is what it is, we will try to maximize it in the race. The tire degradation is very high, without a doubt. Often - concludes the Ferrari driver - but on street circuits they have a very high evolution, things could change, we hope in better. In any case it will be a difficult race in terms of tire management."