Norris shrugs off McLaren fire to win Spanish pole after ‘best lap ever’

BARCELONA:

Lando Norris shrugged off the drama of his McLaren team’s accommodation unit catching fire to produce “the best lap of my life” and deny Max Verstappen pole for the Spanish Grand Prix in Saturday’s qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton will start on the second row alongside his Mercedes teammate George Russell.

Verstappen looked certain to start Sunday’s 10th round of the season from the front of the grid.

But in the final shot of the top-10 shoot-out, Norris denied the Red Bull ace by just two hundredths of a second.

“Today was the perfect lap,” Norris said after just his second career pole.

“My best lap by far, I knew I had to do something perfect, it was probably my best lap ever.”

Norris made one minute and 11.383 seconds of magic after a “stressful” day when McLaren’s accommodation unit caught fire before the third practice session.

McLaren team principal Zac Brown told Sky Sports that one staff member had to go to hospital but was discharged, adding: “I’m happy to report that everyone is fine.”

“I lost my shoes. It was all a little messy,” Norris said.

“I like to listen to my music loud before, but I didn’t have it this time. But it’s not the end of the world. I’m not going to complain about it.”

Returning to a vintage qualifying season, Norris, whose only other pole came in Russia in 2021, reflected: “It’s been a while since Sochi!

“Max looked a bit stronger today but we made some changes,” added the Briton who won his maiden Grand Prix in Miami in May.

“I am very happy to be on pole, it will be difficult but we are here to win!”

Verstappen, aiming for a fourth straight world title, leads the championship by 56 points from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who starts Sunday’s race in fifth, with Norris seven points back in third.

“I think the whole of qualifying was better than practice for me,” said Verstappen, who won his maiden Grand Prix in Barcelona in 2016 and has a hat-trick of victories in Catalonia in 2022 and 2023.

“Everything has become much better. The other teams are catching up, we have to bring more performance to the car.”

Ferrari-bound Hamilton was delighted to be at the front of the grid as he overtook teammate Russell for only the second time this year.

“It’s good to be back here, it’s great to see that we’re progressing,” he said.

“We’re slowly climbing closer to the guys in front, it’s really on a knife edge.

“I’m very happy to be in P3 with such a long straight to close one.”

Leclerc will be joined on the third row by his Ferrari teammate and favorite Carlos Sainz.

He was followed by the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who has a three-place penalty from Canada, Esteban Ocon in the other Alpine and Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren.

After just a tenth of a second off the top four in final practice earlier, the stage was set for an interesting pole battle.

Complicating matters was a significant drop in temperature, with morning sunshine giving way to heavy cloud with the wind picking up.

However, the on-track action was anything but cool as drivers tried to squeeze every last ounce of performance for a Grand Prix they won from pole in 24 of the 33 races run on the track.

After clipping Norris’ McLaren at the end of final practice, Leclerc prepared for qualifying with a trip to the FIA ​​director’s office as the race marshals investigated the incident.

Leclerc was arguably lucky to escape with only a reprimand and not a penalty, which was announced shortly before qualifying began.

Hamilton took the honors in the first qualifying round, jumping from 14th to first, with Verstappen leading the Mercedes duo after the second session.

Verstappen came alive when it counted most – after a quiet spell in the three practice sessions, he led Q3 after the first flurry of laps.

All drivers pitted to prepare for a last-ditch effort to deprive the Red Bull ace of Sunday’s pole, with Norris nailing it to end a day of effort on a high.

This is the 10th round of the 24-race season and the first of a triple header with Austria and Silverstone coming up over the next two weekends.