Lando Norris claimed his third pole position of the 2026 season at the Spanish Grand Prix, edging championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 0.011s at the new Madring circuit near Madrid. The Mercedes driver had set the pace with a 1m31.835s lap in the final Q3 shootout, but Norris responded with a 1m31.824s effort to deny Mercedes a fourth consecutive qualifying win. Max Verstappen qualified third for Red Bull, ahead of Ferrari duo Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in fourth and fifth. George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, followed by Oscar Piastri, Liam Lawson, Franco Colapinto, and Arvid Lindblad in the top 10.

In Q2, Colapinto recovered from a moment at La Monumental banking to reach Q3, while Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly could only manage 14th. Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto missed out for Audi in 11th and 12th. Q1 saw Alex Albon edge Carlos Sainz by 0.005s for the final Q2 spot, eliminating the local favorite. Fernando Alonso qualified 18th for Aston Martin, while Cadillac's Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas filled the back row.

The session ran without major incidents on the challenging 5.4km layout mixing street sections and a high-speed loop. Norris's last-gasp lap handed him a crucial advantage as he chases Antonelli in the championship standings.