Piastri qualifies seventh as Norris takes Spanish GP pole

Oscar Piastri qualified seventh for the Spanish Grand Prix, nearly half a second behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris, who secured pole position at the inaugural race on the Madrid street circuit. Piastri described his final qualifying lap as "pretty crap" and "pretty shocking," attributing the result to a messy session and technical challenges adapting to the 2026 Formula One car. Norris produced a stunning lap of 1 minute 31.82 seconds to take pole, edging Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli by just 0.011 seconds. Piastri's fastest time was 1:32.294, leaving him 0.474 seconds adrift of his teammate and starting from the fourth row alongside Liam Lawson. The Australian's qualifying campaign was disrupted from the start when he was forced to abort his first run in Q1, leaving him without a time on the board for the opening eight minutes. He described the session as one where "you wish you could hit the reset button." McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expressed dissatisfaction with the result. "We feel there was more to be achieved with Oscar, who was unfortunately just a fraction away from a much higher grid slot in this incredibly tight field," Stella said.