McLaren’s Lando Norris produced a spellbinding late lap to deprive Max Verstappen of pole for the Spanish Grand Prix in qualifying on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton will start on the second row alongside his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
Verstappen looked nailed on to start Sunday’s 10th round of the season from the front of the grid.
But in the last throw of the top-10 shoot-out, Norris denied the Red Bull ace by a mere two hundredths of a second.
Lando Norris described his pole position lap as perfect, noting improvements that edged out Max Verstappen and expressing his determination to win despite the tough challenge ahead.
Verstappen, targeting a fourth straight world title, leads the championship by 56 points from Charles Leclerc, who starts Sunday’s race in fifth, with Norris seven points back in third.
This is the 10th race of the 24-race season and the first of a triple header with Austria and Silverstone coming up over the next two weekends.
Verstappen won his maiden Grand Prix in Barcelona in 2016 and is on a hat-trick after wins in 2022 and 2023.
With AFP
