Lando Norris openly admitted that mistakes during his qualifying laps cost him pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix, allowing his championship rival and McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to seize the top spot. This setback hampers Norris’s attempt to become the first British driver this season to win consecutive races.
McLaren demonstrated clear dominance in qualifying for the ninth round of the season, which increasingly appears to be a fierce internal battle between Norris and Piastri for the Formula One World Championship. After breaking his recent qualifying struggles by securing pole in Monaco and subsequently winning that race, Norris closed the points gap to Piastri to just three.
However, as Norris has yet to accomplish back-to-back wins in his Formula One career, the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying exposed that challenge. Piastri claimed a commanding pole with a margin of 0.209 seconds—the largest gap seen this season—dushing Norris’s hopes of another impressive qualifying result.
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Norris sprinted out with a narrow lead after the initial runs in Q3, but despite improving on his final attempt, he described his lap as “scrappy,” citing mistakes at Turn 1 and the exit of Turn 4 that cost him crucial time. “Oscar drove very well but the pace was easily there today,” Norris reflected. “I was trying a little bit too much and wasn’t tidy enough. Just one too many mistakes… I am still fine and happy with second. It is not the end of the world.”
While Norris’s morale remains positive with a solid second place start, it is Piastri who has demonstrated greater consistency this season, boasting four victories compared to Norris’s two. Piastri’s strong performance positions him favorably for race day, especially with a clean run into the first corner.
In practice sessions leading up to qualifying, Piastri had consistently posted the fastest times and expressed confidence about securing pole: “I always felt confident pole was on the cards so I am glad we pulled it off.”
McLaren’s dominant showing—winning six of the eight rounds so far—is notable, particularly considering recent regulatory changes intended to curb flexible front wings, which some suspected had aided McLaren’s rise. Yet, the rule adjustments have not significantly affected the team’s pace. Both Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Mercedes’s George Russell lagged by 0.302 seconds behind Piastri, with Verstappen narrowly starting third due to setting his lap earlier.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who struggled in practice describing his car as “undriveable,” delivered a respectable fifth-place qualifying finish while out-qualifying Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc for the first time this season. Leclerc settled for seventh, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas splitting the Ferrari duo.
Hamilton also criticized the new front-wing technical directive, dismissing its effectiveness: “It has not made a difference. What a waste of money. The wings still bend and everyone has had to spend more money. It doesn’t make sense. I would have given that money to charity.”
With McLaren’s ongoing dominance and an intense intra-team rivalry now underway, all eyes are on the Spanish Grand Prix to see whether Norris can overcome his mistakes and challenge Piastri for the race victory and the championship lead.