Norris steals pole from Antonelli on Madring's F1 debut
Formula One returns to Madrid for the first time this weekend, with Madring taking over as host of the Spanish Grand Prix from Barcelona-Catalunya, which now alternates with Spa for a slot on the calendar. Kimi Antonelli arrives with a 66-point championship lead over teammate George Russell.
Practice gave little away. Russell topped FP1, Antonelli hit back to lead FP2 ahead of the Ferraris, and Saturday's FP3 saw Antonelli fastest again despite two red flags – Hamilton crashing hard into the Turn 22 barriers and Bearman spinning into the wall at Turn 10.
The weekend is personal for Spain's two drivers too: Carlos Sainz races in front of home fans for the first time in his career, just 15 minutes away from where he grew up. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso is at his second home race of the season. Neither Williams nor Aston Martin has looked quick enough this year to make much of it.
Lando Norris ultimately took pole position with a time of 1:31.824, ahead of Kimi Antonelli by a hundredth of a second and Max Verstappen in third.
Q1 – Russell edges Antonelli to the top of the times
Oliver Bearman took no part in the session, Haas nowhere near completing repairs on the car he wrecked in FP3. On track, the two Cadillacs led the way out of the pits, Valtteri Bottas ahead of team-mate Sergio Pérez.
Antonelli set the first representative time of the session with a 1:33.566, before Russell slotted into second. Max Verstappen then took the position from him, going 0.178s off Antonelli's benchmark, while Gabriel Bortoleto produced a purple opening sector to jump to third, 0.420s off the pace. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton filled out fifth and sixth.
Lando Norris's first flying lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. He went again and returned a 1:33.839 to move up to third, only for Liam Lawson to go purple in the second sector and seize top spot outright with a 1:33.316. Oscar Piastri, by contrast, could only manage eighth on his first attempt.
Pierre Gasly, pole-sitter at last weekend's race, was down in eleventh. Verstappen, running the medium tyre while most of the field remained on softs, proved quicker than his rivals on the harder compound, going second with a 1:33.381, just 0.065s shy of Lawson. Antonelli then had a moment of his own, locking up at Turn 17 and aborting his lap; Nico Hülkenberg and Russell also locked up at the same corner shortly after.
Leclerc briefly moved up to third on mediums before Hamilton, also switching to the harder tyre, took the position from him. Russell improved to sixth, still behind team-mate Antonelli in fifth, while the McLaren pair found more pace of their own — Piastri up to seventh and Norris up to third.
With three and a half minutes left on the clock, Lance Stroll was yet to set a time. Antonelli then reclaimed top spot, 0.049s clear of Lawson, who responded immediately to close the gap back down to just 0.043s. Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10, sending both Racing Bulls through to Q2, while Sainz's home weekend came to an early end in 17th.
Sainz and Bottas were also both noted by the FIA for impeding during the session. Russell had the last word, though, going fastest in the closing seconds to seal a Mercedes one-two at the top of the times.
Q1 exits:
P17 – Carlos Sainz
P18 – Fernando Alonso
P19 – Sergio Pérez
P20 – Valtteri Bottas
P21 – Oliver Bearman
P22 – Lance Stroll
Q2 – Verstappen tops final runs as Bortoleto misses out
Antonelli was first out for the second part of qualifying and set the early pace with a 1:32.603, Russell following in second ahead of the Ferraris of Leclerc and Hamilton in third and fourth. A yellow flag for a track hazard at La Monumental briefly interrupted proceedings, though it cleared before it could affect anyone's lap.
Albon moved into the top five before Lindblad took the position from him, while Verstappen produced a lap right on the edge of track limits to vault to the top, 0.046s clear of Antonelli's benchmark. Norris's first flying lap was good enough for third, only for Lawson to go quicker and Verstappen to take over at the head of the times, dropping the McLaren down to fifth.
Piastri could only manage eighth on his own opening effort, 0.647s off Verstappen's pace. Colapinto had a small snap through the elevation change but gathered it up without losing much time.
The Ferraris briefly split the McLaren pair, Norris ahead and Piastri behind, before Leclerc and Hamilton both improved again — Leclerc up to third, only for his team-mate to go quicker still and take the position back. Gasly had a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits but still classified as high as P11 at that point.
Into the closing runs, Antonelli improved his own time without changing his position, still second, while Hülkenberg rose to ninth. Colapinto's own improvement lifted him to eighth and demoted Lindblad to 12th, before Bortoleto missed out on progression in eleventh.
Verstappen had the final say, though, setting a new benchmark of 1:32.431, and Lindblad recovered late with a stronger final sector to climb back up to 10th. Tsunoda improved his time but not his position, ending the session 15th.
Q2 exits:
P11 – Gabriel Bortoleto
P12 – Nico Hülkenberg
P13 – Esteban Ocon
P14 – Pierre Gasly
P15 – Yuki Tsunoda
P16 – Alex Albon
Q3 – Norris denies Antonelli on final laps
Mercedes were first out again, Antonelli setting the opening benchmark of the top-10 shootout with a 1:32.140. Norris picked up a black-and-white flag for failing to follow the race director's instructions, while Russell slotted in a tenth back from his team-mate.
Norris's own first effort was good for third, only for Hamilton to produce two purple sectors and go fastest with a 1:32.079. Verstappen followed with a purple second sector of his own to move into fifth, 0.254s off Hamilton's benchmark, with Piastri down in seventh behind Norris in sixth.
The Mercedes pair were first out again for the final runs. Lindblad was noted by race control for an unsafe release, though no further investigation followed. Antonelli was the first to improve, going provisional pole with a 1:31.835, while Russell had a lap of his own that brought him within inches of the wall, good for third. Leclerc, despite a lack of grip, moved up to second, only for Hamilton to take the position back from his team-mate moments later.
Norris had the last word. A purple opening sector was enough to snatch provisional pole from Antonelli by just one hundredth of a second, and Verstappen's own purple second sector lifted him to third. Piastri could only manage sixth on his final effort.
Top 10
P1 – Lando Norris
P2 – Kimi Antonelli
P3 – Max Verstappen
P4 – Lewis Hamilton
P5 – Charles Leclerc
P6 – Oscar Piastri
P7 – George Russell
P8 – Liam Lawson
P9 – Franco Colapinto
P10 – Arvid Lindblad
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