4 hours ago
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Lando Norris relit his world championship hopes by taking pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. He came from nowhere to do so.
The British driver was delighted by his achievement, letting out a yelp of delight in the cockpit, almost as if disbelieving his achievement on the perilous new track on the outskirts of Madrid.
The world champion qualified 0.011sec ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, with Max Verstappen third and Lewis Hamilton fourth for Ferrari. George Russell was fifth for Mercedes.
Norris celebrated with his mother Cisca after his pole, hugging her. He is 96 points behind Antonelli and overhauling the 20-year-old Italian will be a tough job over the final 10 rounds of the season. But his McLaren team, helped by upgrades and gathering momentum, are on the rise.
Lando Norris has taken pole at the Spanish Grand Prix with a 'perfect' lap
The British driver got the better of championship leader Kimi Antonelli in Madrid
‘I am shocked and a little bit surprised to be here now, but my God, it was probably one of the best laps I have done in my career,’ said Norris.
‘It was one of those laps where everything came together. It was just whether my brain allowed me to do it, and in the end it was perfect.
‘You look at the lap time, and you are like, ‘Oh s***, that feels pretty good.’
Prior to Norris’s perfect ambush, Hamilton had set the fastest time in first run of Q3, having crashed in practice earlier in the day.
It was Norris’s 19th pole position on this road circuit.
‘How I did it is a secret even I don’t know,’ he added.
