Lando Norris dropped “three tenths” during his surprising journey to clinch pole position at the Madring F1.

“That’s a work of art.”

Following Lando Norris' remarkable capture of pole position from Kimi Antonelli by a mere 0.011 seconds at the Spanish Grand Prix, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expressed his elation and admiration for his driver.

Throughout the weekend, the papaya-colored cars had not appeared fast enough to contend for victory. Mercedes dominated all practice sessions over Ferrari; during Q1 and Q2, the Silver Arrows were in a battle with Red Bull for the top spot. Yet, McLaren consistently lagged behind by a few tenths.

Then came that stunning Q3 lap. Norris was in sixth place after his initial attempt, trailing pacesetter Lewis Hamilton by 0.446 seconds, but he improved by 0.701 seconds on his second attempt – just enough to surpass a seemingly unbeatable Antonelli.

However, he did not foresee this – especially after making a mistake in the last corner, slightly losing control of the rear end. “Sorry, I messed up man,” Norris told race engineer Will Joseph. The engineer advised him to wait for all cars to finish, suggesting he had a chance at pole, to which Norris replied: “What an idiot.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

“It wasn’t your finest final corner, but it’s still pole, so well done,” Joseph remarked. It took Norris some time to process that he wasn’t being pranked.

“By the last corner, I just had a bit of a, I don’t know, a moment,” the British driver explained. “I think I got a bit too eager in the car and just overdid the entry, and honestly, I thought I was heading for the wall. So, luckily it was a short run to Turn 1.”

“The lap was really just spot on, with good exits, precise kerb usage, and nailing all the small details that are crucial around here. I managed to do that only on my final lap, and it all came together.”

Stella described that lap as “one of the most remarkable laps that [he] has witnessed, having observed telemetry in 450 grands prix.”

In contrast, Oscar Piastri qualified in seventh, 0.470 seconds behind his teammate.

“Honestly, we weren’t performing at a level that warranted a pole position,” Stella continued. “At no point during the weekend did we show that the car was capable of being the fastest. We were significantly lacking in the first sector, in low-speed corners and kerbing, making it very challenging for the drivers to put together a complete lap. We saw glimpses of potential, but it’s always tough to piece it all together.

“The most remarkable aspect is that it’s a pole position despite losing three-and-a-half tenths in the last sector, indicating it would have been a convincing pole without that issue.

Lando Norris, McLaren

“Simultaneously, this issue stems from the level to which Lando pushed. However, everyone was likely pushing their limits today.

“What makes this lap stand out, particularly when analyzing the telemetry, is the precision, the braking, the entry speed, the way he hit the kerb, and the timing of going on power. Everything was executed with an exceptional level of precision.

“For me, that's the key characteristic I associate with this lap: incredible precision in every meter of execution.”

According to Stella, as noted earlier, Norris’ driving error was a direct result of how aggressively he pushed throughout the lap.

“He just paid the price for the fact that the lap was coming in about one second faster than any of his other laps, which meant more was being extracted from the tires,” the Italian remarked. “The tires were worn, and somehow Lando didn’t take this into consideration and approached the corner with the same intensity as in earlier corners.

“He oversteered on entry, which completely disrupted his racing line, and as I mentioned, he lost over three tenths. It wasn’t a calculated risk; if anything, he didn’t adequately account for the tire wear.

“I don’t believe he realized [he was in trouble]. I think he was in an aggressive mindset, but it was a bit too much for what the tires could handle.”