Over two and a half years have passed since that pole with which Lando Norris surprised in 2021 on the weekend of the Russian Grand Prix. In the meantime, other front rows arrived, other good results in the shootout of the sprint events, but the first place had always slipped away at the decisive moment, that is, in the qualifications for the longest race on Sunday.
The Briton had come close to it on several occasions, but each time something had always been missing, between mistakes and unfortunate situations that had perhaps forced him to settle for second place. In Spain, however, all the elements of the puzzle aligned as hoped and this is how Norris achieved the second career pole position ahead of Max Verstappen by just twenty thousandths.
Two hundredths, apparently an almost zero gap, but in a Formula 1 where we are starting to fight more and more on the razor’s edge, even twenty thousandths is starting to be a gap that changes the balance on the field. Red Bull tried by all means to put Max Verstappen’s RB20 ahead of everyone, even trying to follow with Sergio Perez in the last attempt, but this wasn’t enough.
A mechanic directs Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
At the end of qualifying, Lando Norris described his attempt as the perfect lap and, above all, as the lap that came in the right place and at the right time. It wasn’t the first time that the Briton fought for pole, but for various reasons that objective had almost always eluded him: on the contrary, in Barcelona McLaren was finally able to realize its potential, albeit with only one of the two cars , center the first square on the starting grid.
“It was a practically perfect lap. I think it was, you know, when you want to have a good laugh when you’re excited, but in the end everything was perfect, so close. But yes, I’m very happy. I would say it’s my best pole position, I don’t have many, but of the ones I’ve had, this is the best,” said Norris at the end of qualifying.
“We were close all weekend. But in reality it was just a perfect lap and that’s what I did today. It’s been great, my fans and supporters are amazing. So, a big thank you to everyone who encouraged me.”
The pole of the Woking team does not come as an isolated episode, but as a result achieved in a journey in which it has been able to grow update after update. The Miami package gave new life to the MCL38, although it was still expected that the car could be among the protagonists in Barcelona, a track that it digested well last year.
![Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38](https://cdn.motorsport.com/images/mgl/YMdqrR12/s1000/lando-norris-mclaren-mcl38.jpg)
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
“It’s not just about this weekend, but over the last two months, from Miami onwards, we have been fast and very strong. We only missed pole by not doing a perfect lap and today was the perfect lap. I would say Max and Red Bull looked a little bit stronger throughout the weekend than us.”
“But we made some changes for the final run, some small points to improve and I did exactly that. So yes, I’m very happy to be on pole,” added Norris.
In the race it will realistically be a two-man challenge with Verstappen. Red Bull had a good pace on Friday, but in the meantime it also made a significant change to the set-up, opting for a more loaded configuration, tested with more fuel only briefly in the morning. The weather uncertainty is also part of all this, because the risk of rain has not been eliminated: “I know it will be tough against Max, against Lewis, against whoever is behind, but now we have to win. This is my plan.”
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