McLaren F1 boss makes astonishing admission over incredible Lando Norris pole lap

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has spoken about Lando Norris' brilliant pole lap on Saturday at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The British driver pipped Kimi Antonelli to the front of the grid by just 11 thousandths of a second with what he called one of the best laps of his career, leaping to the front after looking on less than top form earlier in the day.

However, Stella has now claimed that, as miraculous as Norris' lap appeared, it could have been even better – pointing to a mistake in the final corner which he said cost his driver three tenths of a second.

Norris himself certainly thought that the mistake was enough to cost him dearly, calling himself a 'f***ing idiot' on team radio before his agony turned to ecstasy when his race engineer Will Joseph delivered the good news.

F1 HEADLINES: Hamilton blasted by F1 rival as Verstappen names potential Red Bull replacement

Stella: 'Masterpiece' lap could've been even better

Stella spoke to the media after the session, saying: "I think that's a piece of masterpiece. If you say like this, a masterpiece. We had seen across the whole weekend that had we put all together.

"We were not far from the best cars, so we have worked almost like our way step by step to try and put all the performance together.

"I think Lando did it only in the final run of Q3, and if you want the news, is that in the final corner he made a mistake of three tenths.

"So he was on a just incredible lap. I think definitely one of the best of his life until the last corner, it just realised what's available in the car. We are happy with this pole position.”

Norris delighted by stunning pole

Norris himself admitted shock at his lap, saying after the session: "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. It was 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. One of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end, and you're like, oh, oh s***, that was pretty good."

READ MORE: Massive crash at F1's new Madring circuit as car bursts into flames

READ MORE: Ferrari boss hits back at Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari engine change at F1 Spanish Grand Prix - Ted Kravitz

• 2 hours ago

FIA confirms penalty verdicts on Norris, Mercedes stars and more at F1 Spanish Grand Prix

• 2 hours ago

F1 Race Today: Spanish Grand Prix start time, schedule, TV channel and FREE live stream

• 3 hours ago

McLaren open talks with Red Bull to sign Max Verstappen F1 ally for 2027

• Today 09:14

Channel 4 F1 highlights today: How to watch the 2026 Spanish Grand Prix FREE in the UK

• Today 08:30

Amended F1 2026 Spanish Grand Prix starting grid with all late penalties applied by the FIA

• Today 08:01