GP Qualifying: Norris beats Verstappen to pole in thrilling Spanish GP qualifying session

Red Bull Racing/Red Bull Content Pool

BARCELONA-CATALUNYA, Spain -- In a dramatic Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session, McLaren's Lando Norris secured his second career pole position by edging out Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Norris, who last took pole at the 2021 Sochi Autodrom, trailed Verstappen after the initial Q3 runs but surged ahead with a stunning final lap of 1m 11.383s, beating the Dutchman by just two hundredths of a second.

Check out the results of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend in Barcelona, including the race results, qualifying times, and practice sessions

Mercedes showed their potential with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell locking out the second row, qualifying P3 and P4 respectively. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and home favorite Carlos Sainz secured P5 and P6 positions, while Pierre Gasly starred with an impressive P7 for Alpine.

Sergio Perez qualified P8 but will drop three places due to a grid penalty, promoting Alpine's Esteban Ocon and McLaren's Oscar Piastri. Fernando Alonso missed out on Q3 by mere hundredths, pushed into P11 by former teammate Ocon.

The mid-field saw competitive performances from Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu in P12 and P15 respectively, with Nico Hulkenberg and Lance Stroll between them. Kevin Magnussen fell short of Q2, finishing in P16 amid Q1 traffic issues.

RB struggled with updates as Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo ended in P17 and P18. Williams faced a tough session with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant at the back, facing a challenging race day ahead.

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