In an innovative moment for the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Lando Norris secured his first pole position in Formula 1. This achievement comes after surpassing Max Verstappen during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Norris delivered what he described as the best lap of his career so far, narrowly beating Verstappen. It is worth noting that Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, faced a setback, qualifying in eighth place but receiving a three-position grid penalty for the Canadian GP. As a result, Perez will start in 11th, allowing Esteban Ocon, Oscar Piastri, and Fernando Alonso to move up one position each.
Another driver facing a grid penalty is Logan Sargeant, who impeded Stroll during qualifying. However, despite the penalty, Sargeant will start the race in a higher position than he qualified, which was 20th. This unexpected result is due to his Williams teammate, Alex Albon, replacing the energy storage and electronic control unit of his FW46 without the necessary approval from the FIA technical delegate. As a result, Albon will start from the pit lane.
It is worth noting that Albon now exceeds the season limit for both energy storage and control electronics. However, since he will start from the pit lane, the resulting grid penalties do not affect him.
The starting grid for the Spanish Grand Prix is as follows:
1) Lando Norris (McLaren)
2) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
4) George Russell (Mercedes)
5) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
6) Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
7) Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
8) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
9) Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
10) Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
11) Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
12) Valtteri Bottas (Sauber)
13) Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
14) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15) Zhou Guanyu (Sauber)
16) Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
17) Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
18) Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
19) Logan Sargeant (Williams)
PL) Alex Albon (Williams)
