'Shocked' Norris beats Antonelli to take pole position for Spanish GP
· Yahoo Sports
Defending champion Lando Norris narrowly beat championship leader Kimi Antonelli to claim pole position on Saturday for the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix.
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The McLaren driver topped the timesheets with the best time of 1 minute 31.824 seconds on the new Madrid circuit to take his third pole of the season.
Antonelli was just 0.011 seconds behind, while Max Verstappen of Red Bull completed the top three, 0.140 seconds off the pace.
"I'm shocked, I'm a little bit surprised to be here now. My God, it was one of the best laps I've done in my career. Very happy," Norris said.
"The adrenaline was high on the last lap, you have to relax and let it all flow. The car was feeling good, so I felt good out there."
Lewis Hamilton thought he would recover from a crash in the final practice session in style as he had provisional pole with the fastest time after the first flying laps.
But the seven-time champion was beaten by Antonelli, who then lost the top position to Norris.
Antonelli was lucky to avoid a crash in Q1 after he locked up and went wide, almost colliding with the wall.
"It was an intense qualifying, hard to get the balance right in these temperatures. Overall, we did a good job and I will try and see what I can do tomorrow," the Italian said.
Hamilton was fourth, followed by Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc and the second Mercedes of George Russell.
Oscar Piastri in the other McLaren was seventh, and Red Bull's Liam Lawson, Alpine's Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad of Racing Bulls completed the top 10.
Pole position will be crucial for victory in Madrid as overtaking opportunities will be limited at the new track, which has been described as "crazy," "scary," and the season's "most complicated."
Norris said: "Overtaking won't be easy, but I do have two very quick drivers behind me. Lots of things could happen, but looking forward to tomorrow."
After coming from 19th to claim a sensational win on home tarmac at the Italian GP last weekend, Antonelli tops the drivers' standings, 66 points ahead of Russell.
Lengthy interruption disrupts practice
Final practice was suspended with some 36 minutes left on the clock after Hamilton locked up and went straight into the wall at the final corner, triggering the red flag.
He managed to reverse out and started to make his way back to the boxes and, despite being told by the team to stop the car, Hamilton kept going. Ferrari, however, persuaded him to park up and let the car be removed from the track.
The seven-time world champion was probably trying to return on his own, so the team could fix the car, and he could resume the session.
It is unclear whether Hamilton will be handed a penalty for driving a car in unsafe conditions.
The clock initially kept ticking down, but it was eventually fixed at 15 minutes 38 seconds and the session was stopped because race organizers struggled to repair the barriers.
Practice resumed after an interruption of more than 40 minutes.
Hamilton's crash was the second F1 incident on the Madrid track, which is making its debut on the calendar.
A third crash happened at the end of third practice as Oliver Bearman of Haas hit the barriers and slid down them. On Saturday, Lindblad also crashed out.
The "Madring" street circuit in Madrid is considered very challenging because of its fast turns, and there are also several sections where drivers can barely see what is ahead of them. Run-off areas are also scarce.