Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Madrid

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris took a superb pole position for McLaren at the Spanish Grand Prix, beating Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli and Red Bull's Max Verstappen in a breathless final few seconds of qualifying.

"Oh, what a lap, gorgeous," said an ecstatic Norris after pipping world championship leader Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds. "Oh, that might be my best one."

Verstappen was 0.140secs off the pace, as all three moved ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari in Madrid.

The seven-time champion had held the top spot after the first runs in the final session.

Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc was fifth, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

Norris' pole came from nowhere. He had been fifth in the first session of qualifying, seventh in the second, and 0.449secs slower than Hamilton's pace-setting lap after the first runs in the final session.

Read the full report here

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McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described Lando Norris Madrid pole as "a masterpiece" and tomorrow, the defending world champion will lead the field from lights out at the Spanish Grand Prix for the third time this season.

Norris has championship leader Kimi Antonelli next to him in P2, and it's only a short run down to Turn One at the Madring. So, with limited places to pass on track, will the battle for victory be won within the opening few corners?

And that's before we even touch on the subject of tyre strategy, potential safety cars or red flags. Anything could happen.

Thanks so much for all your messages/pictures, folks. Elderly cat made a late bid for glory, and it was so tight between all the entries. But the F1 live page reader of the day award goes to...

... Chris in Niseko, Japan!

Sunday's live page will be green for build-up from 13:00 BST.

The 57-lap Spanish Grand Prix at the all-new Madring starts at 14:00.

See you tomorrow!

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Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton who will start the Spanish Grand Prix in fourth: "Second lap was just good as the other one. It was the same time pretty much. I think I was half a tenth quicker or something like that but for some reason we went into that last lap and as I came around the last corner, I had understeer and thought maybe the front tyres are not switched on. It turned out I just had more rear and more understeer through the lap."

On what will be crucial for Sunday's race: "We all came into the weekend thinking there will be not so much deg and tyres would last longer but there was a lot of deg yesterday. I'm sure that improves a little bit as the track gets grippier but I have no idea what to expect tomorrow."

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Mercedes' George Russell, speaking to Sky Sports, after qualifying sixth: "I was feeling good at the start of the session. Just come Q3, when I tried to push a bit more the tyres just couldn't take it and that cost me a good couple of tenths so that was a little bit frustrating. It's a really tough circuit, you almost need to drive below the limit and extract that last little bit and that cost me today.

"I think tyre [degradation] is going to define [the race] one way or another. It will either be no deg and it will be a procession or it will be high deg and it will be pretty chaotic."

McLaren's Oscar Piastri speaking to Sky Sports after qualifying P7: "I think the first lap wasn't too bad but the second lap was pretty shocking. Disappointing. Turn One didn't start very well and a few places were quite a lot better than the lap before but once you get out of the rhythm here it makes life very tough. Not a great session. I feel like this weekend the pace has been reasonable, it's just been about trying to be there consistently. Unfortunately, one of those sessions where you wish you could have it again.

"We'll have to wait and see. Overtaking's certainly not going to be easy and there's a big question mark over tyre degradation. We'll just have to wait and see what we get."

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McLaren boss Andrea Stella on Lando Norris' pole position: "I think it was a piece of masterpiece. A masterpiece. We had seen across the whole weekend, that if we put it all together, we were not far from the best cars. So we worked our way, step by step, to try and put all of the performance together.

"I think Lando did it only in the final run of Q3 and if you want the news, is that in the final corner he made a mistake of three tenths. So it was just an incredible lap. I think definitely one of the best of his life until the last corner.

"He just realised what is available in the car. We are happy with this pole position. At the same time the group keeps being so tight that if you are a few tenths behind like Oscar, you are P7. There is a lot of balance in Formula 1, it is exciting and it is exciting going into tomorrow's race."

More from McLaren polesitter Lando Norris: "I don't know, I'm still thinking about my lap.

"But I've given myself the best chance for tomorrow. I don't think it is going to be the easiest track to overtake but it is going to be possible and I have got two quick, pretty good drivers behind me.

"I am excited. It is the first race in Madrid. It has been a pleasure so far and a lot things can happen, a long race, difficult track so looking forward to the whole thing."

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen who will start Sunday's race in third: "For us, it was a very good qualifying. For me to be third is a great result.

"The car felt quite decent in qualifying and I could attack corners the way I liked so for us I think this qualifying was a good result."

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Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli speaking after qualifying P2: "I thought it was a good lap but then this guy just snatched it away. Good job to them. On my side, a very intense qualifying. Difficult to get the balance right with track being so hot but the lap was pretty clean. Obviously not easy to put things together on a track like this which is quite tricky. Overall I think we did a good job and we'll try to see what we can do tomorrow."

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McLaren's Lando Norris who will be on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix: "Thank you. 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, ever in my career so very, very happy, very proud, very happy for the team.

"It was 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 would let me do it on the last lap and everything worked perfectly. I'm just very happy. It was one of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end and you're like oh, that was pretty good.

"The adrenaline was high on the last lap. It is just one where you have got to relax, just let it all flow. It is easy to get tense around here, there is a lot of walls that come out at you pretty quickly.

"Honestly, I am feeling pretty confident and the car felt good, so I felt good out there. I just wasn't doing what I wanted. I wasn't relaxed and on the last lap I took a breath and everything came together. It was pretty much perfect. Bar the last corner, I thought I was in the wall and I thought the boys were going to repair the car tonight. Everything I wanted to achieve, I achieved. It put a big smile on my face so I am happy."

The overtaking opportunities are said to be limited at the Madring, so Lando Norris securing himself the prime spot on the grid, after missing most of second practice yesterday, will be a huge bosst for the McLaren driver.

The reigning world champion is fourth in the standings, 96 points off the man he lines up alongside on the front row tomorrow, Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

Norris won back-to-back races in Hungary and Zandvoort before last week's Italian Grand Prix, so can he claim a third of the season and become the first driver to win at this new Madrid circuit?

McLaren boss Andrea Stella tells Sky Sports Norris' lap "is a masterpiece" and "one of the best of his life".

High praise indeed.

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)

12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

15. Yuki Tsunoda (Racing Bulls)

16. Alex Albon (Williams)

17. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

18. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

21. Oliver Bearman (Haas, no time)

22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin, no time)

1. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 1:31.824

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.011

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.140

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.189

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.195

6. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.325

7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.470

8. Liam Lawson (Red Bull) +0.492

9. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +1.079

10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.217

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will be sharing the second row in third and fourth respectively, while Charles Leclerc took fifth place on the grid and George Russell only sixth.

The McLaren of Oscar Piastri will start in seventh, Red Bull's Liam Lawson is eighth, Franco Colapinto ninth and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad will line up 10th.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

That looked close to track limits for me, for Kimi Antonelli, at Turn 15. So close and we have seen drivers be pinged for it there. There is nothing coming up on the timing screens at the moment but if he does lose that lap, that is going to make him tumble out of the top six at least.

Norris: "**** yes! What a lap. Gorgeous. Well done guys. That might be my best one! That made me happy."