How a ‘masterpiece’ F1 pole lap by Norris erased a troubled Friday in Madrid

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described Lando Norris’ pole position lap at the Spanish Grand Prix as “a masterpiece” that overcame significant setbacks earlier in the weekend.

Norris missed FP2 on Friday due to a gearbox issue, costing him valuable track time at the new Madring circuit. Despite that loss of running, the team opted against completing extra mileage than normal in FP3 in order to focus on quality runs, but Norris still didn’t look like a factor at the front before pipping Kimi Antonelli by 0.011s with his final Q3 lap to take a third pole in four races.

“I think that's a bit of a masterpiece,” Stella told Sky Sports. “We had seen across the whole weekend that had we put all together, we were not far from the best cars. So we have worked our way, step by step, to try and put all the performance together.

“I think Lando did it only in the final run of Q3. In the final corner he made a mistake of three tenths. So he was on a just incredible lap. I think definitely one of the best of his life until the last corner. He just realized what's available in the car.”

Norris too acknowledged how special his lap was, despite the moment at the final corner that nearly saw pole position slip away.

“I'm shocked,” Norris said. “I'm a little bit surprised to be here now, but my God, it was probably one of the best laps I've done ever in my career. So, very, very happy. Very proud. Very happy for the team.

“Just one of those laps where everything came together. I had a good idea of what I wanted to do, but it was whether my brain let me do it on the last lap, and everything pretty much worked perfectly. It’s one of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end, and you're like, ‘Oh, oh s**t, that was pretty good!’

“It was pretty much perfect, [apart from] the last corner – I thought I was in the wall, and I thought the boys were going to have to repair the car tonight. So it could have been a little bit better. But nonetheless, it was one of the best laps I've done, and just everything that I wanted to achieve, I achieved.

“That’s one of the moments where you're kind of in that flow state, and puts a big smile on my face. So I'm happy.”