Parc Ferme Interviews - Conducted by David Coulthard

Lando, a wave to the crowd. That was a spectacular qualifying session and you secured pole by the massive margin of one hundredth of a second.
Lando Norris: Thank you. Yeah, it was. I'm shocked. I'm a little bit surprised to be here now, but my God, it was probably one of the best laps I've done ever in my career, so very, very happy, very proud, very happy for the team. Yeah, 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 let me do it on the last lap, and everything pretty much worked perfectly. So I'm just very happy. I don't know, one of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end and you're like, "Oh s**t, that was pretty good." So, yeah.

Pretty good is an understatement, and it feels like you've come from behind. You didn't get all the track time you needed on Friday. You've been floating around showing that there's speed in the McLaren, but I don't think anyone had you nailed for a pole position other than your team and your supporters and all those that love you. But you had to really work for that one hundredth. It's going to be really difficult to unpack where that was won against Kimi, but take us on the lap of the track. You've been saying this is like Monaco on steroids. What's the adrenaline like?
LN: The adrenaline was high on the last lap. It's just one where, you know, you've just got to relax, just let it all flow. It's easy to get tense around here and there are a lot of walls that come at you pretty quickly. So honestly, I've been feeling pretty confident and the car was feeling good, so I felt good out there. I just wasn't doing what I wanted. I wasn't quite relaxed. And on the last lap, just took a good breath and everything kind of came together. So, it was pretty much perfect, bar the last corner. I thought I was in the wall and I thought the boys were going to have to repair the car tonight. So, it could have been a little bit better, but nonetheless, like I said, one of the best laps I've done, and just everything that I wanted to achieve, I achieved. And that's one of the moments where you're kind of in that flow state, and it puts a big smile on my face. So, I'm happy.

Well, it's beautiful to see that smile. The increased adrenaline of this racetrack. I think you might have used a small swear word, so apologies to our audience.
LN: Sorry. I apologise.

Thank you. Congratulations on that pole. Kimi, one hundredth of a second. You're fighting for everything out on track. We saw you right on the limit of track limits in a couple of places. A conscious decision to try and get that pole position?
Kimi Antonelli: Yeah, I thought it was a good lap, but then this guy just snatched it away, so good job to them. On my side, you know, very intense qualifying, difficult to get the balance right with the track being so hot. But yeah, the lap was pretty clean. Obviously, it's not easy to put things together on a track like this, which is quite tricky. But overall, I think we did a good job, and now we'll try to see what we can do tomorrow.

OK, Kimi, thank you very much.
KA: Thank you.

Max, you're always in the mix, always there battling. A little bit of a gap to the pole position. Was there more in the lap or is that the pace of the car right now?
Max Verstappen: Yeah, I think for us it was a very good qualifying, so for me to be third I think is a great result. I think we made the car feel quite decent in qualifying and I could attack corners the way I liked. So yeah, for us I think this qualifying is a very good result.

Well done, Max, on that third place finish. Lando, coming back to you one more time. Pole position gives you a clean run to the first corner. Overtaking might be difficult on this racetrack, so a big part of the work is done. Take us towards the race tomorrow.
LN: Yeah, I don't know, I'm still thinking about my lap. So, I mean, I've given myself the best chance for tomorrow. I don't think it's going to be the easiest track to overtake, but it's going to be possible, and I've got two pretty quick, pretty good drivers behind me. So, I'm excited. The first race here in Madrid, it's been a pleasure so far. A lot of things can happen. It's a long race, a difficult track, so looking forward to the whole thing.

Press Conference

A very warm welcome to our top three qualifiers for the FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix. In third place, Max Verstappen. In second place, Kimi Antonelli. And taking the 19th pole position of his Formula 1 career, and his third of this 2026 campaign, our pole-sitter Lando Norris. Lando, what a brilliant final lap. Just how did you do that?
LN: It's a secret! I don't know. I mean, I've been having a good feeling. Of course, I didn't get any laps in FP2 yesterday, so I've been playing a little bit of catch-up, and there was just a good amount of corners where I kind of knew exactly what I wanted to do. So whether it was the first chicane or the second chicane, it's just a couple of corners where I kind of knew what the limit was. I just was struggling to get there and just kind of push into it as much as what I wanted before in qualifying. And the last lap, I mean, I improved, what, like seven, seven and a half tenths in one lap. So that's not something to be proud about, but the fact I still did it in Q3, when it kind of matters most, is the thing I should be proud about. So, it was just a perfect lap. Really, until that point, every corner I did what I wanted to do and I kind of planned out to do. By the last corner, I just had a bit of a, I don't know, a little moment. I think I got a bit excited in the car and I just over-pushed the entry and, honestly, I thought I was in the wall. So, yeah, luckily a short run to Turn 1. But the lap really was just perfect, from good exits, good kerbs, just getting all the little things that are very important around here correct. And I did that only on my last lap and it all worked out.

Famously, you don't have a delta on your steering wheel. Could you feel that the lap was a big improvement while you were doing it?
LN: Seven tenths' worth? I don't know. I'm not sure. I certainly knew my Turn 1, Turn 2 was good, better at least, and maybe half a tenth, could say a little bit more, but maybe a tenth. The chicane was just the first time I got it right. I was just always a bit cautious, and I think at times, sometimes when you're more cautious, it almost is worse in terms of the kerb riding. So, I kind of just hoped for the best in some ways and things came together. And obviously, you know, I'm able to see the speed, so I'm able to see when I'm a little bit better in terms of exit or straight-line speed, and I could just feel it. I don't need my delta. I can feel when I do what I need to do and when I get a good exit, when I'm on the limit of things. When I'm kind of a bit uncomfortable in corners is normally when it's going pretty well. So, I could feel it and I feel like I just made all the right things. My feet were doing what I wanted, and that's normally when things are going well.

New track, new asphalt. How much did the grip levels change during the session?
LN: I think a reasonable amount. It's hard to put a number on those kinds of things, but, you know, it's a new track and in qualifying things are always going to progress, especially from Q1 onwards. So, yeah, there's a little bit of, "Do we try and go out as late as possible to try and have the best track?" You obviously can get some yellow flag risk and things like that. So, we went out in a good position, just clean out-lap, my first one of the whole weekend. I could get the tyres in a good window and things, and everything just really came together from then on. So, it's been difficult because there's so many things to learn and to take on board. With the lack of running yesterday, it certainly puts you a little bit on the back foot, but I caught up in the end and that was what's most important.

Can we talk a little bit more about how that lack of running in FP2 is going to affect you in the Grand Prix tomorrow? How many unknowns are there for you?
LN: A good amount. I've not done any running at high fuel yet, really. So, I've got to do my homework. I've got to see what Oscar did yesterday, see what we can prepare for. But it's a long race, it's a new track. You've got to know what corners to push, what corners not to push, all of these different things, what the battery's then going to do. So, there's a lot of stuff that I've got to spend my time doing tonight. So, it's probably going to be a late one to try and get ahead of the game in some sorts. But the main part of the job was done today, so that's the bit I'm most happy about.

Very well done to you, Lando. Thank you very much. Kimi, if we could come to you now. A great effort by you as well, so close to pole. Where do you think that last hundredth of a second was lost?
KA: A little bit first chicane and then Turn 13 after the banking. I had a big moment lap one in Q3 and, yeah, just didn't really have the confidence to push the entry as much again. But overall, it was a clean lap, nothing to say. It's a track that is not easy to put things together, and of course Lando did a great job, especially catching up after missing FP2 and, yeah, putting things together. So, yeah, obviously it's a shame to miss out on pole for so close, but we'll try to do a good race tomorrow.

Tell us a little more about how difficult it has been to dial in the car for this huge challenge of a racetrack.
KA: Yeah, not easy, also because it's a track where you have many kinds of corners, you know, high-speed, low-speed, chicanes. So not easy to get the car in the right window. And as well with tyres, I think it was not easy to find the right balance between first sector and, you know, end of lap. So, tricky track. But I think the biggest challenge is going to be tomorrow because, yeah, degradation seems to be quite high.