How Lando Norris grabbed pole from Max Verstappen at F1 Spanish Grand Prix

Saturday’s qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix was one of the most thrilling hours in recent memory. In a fierce battle for pole position, Max Verstappen put the RB20 on provisional pole with just seconds remaining in Q3, but Lando Norris took first place from his friend in the final seconds to take pole position by just 0.2 seconds.

How did Norris achieve his victory, and what does Saturday’s result tell us about Sunday?

Let’s take a closer look at the data. Thanks to my friends F1 Tempo. First, let’s look at the “Track Advantage” map, which shows where each car was quicker on the final lap of Q3. As you’d expect from recent history, the RB20 was quicker on the straights, especially the long straight out of Turn 14 back to the start/finish line, but the MCL38 was quicker through some corners.

As you can see, Norris, highlighted in orange, was particularly quick in Sector 1, which includes the first chicane off a long straight and the tight curve out of Turn 3 towards Repsol at Turn 4.

However, Verstappen was quicker on the straighter parts of the track and on the long straights.

Max Verstappen The fastest speed was also recorded on that long straight stretch.a record speed of 329 kilometres per hour. As you can see in the image below, this was recorded near the end of the straight, heading into Turn 1. In comparison, Norris was 5 kilometres per hour slower at that point.

Looking at the gap between the two cars at that point, Verstappen had the advantage in laps. At that point, it was 0.054 seconds faster than Norris.Once you exit the long straight line,

As the cars entered Turn 1, Verstappen’s advantage grew to 0.125 seconds.

However, as you can see from the graph above, as Sector 1 ended and Sector 2 began, Norris built up a lead and maintained it throughout the remainder of the lap, fending off a late challenge from Verstappen as he exited Turn 14 and headed back to the start/finish line (more on this later).

Norris built up a lead through turns 3, 4 and 5. As can be seen from the first “Track Advantage” map, Norris was quicker through turns 3 and 4. Verstappen had the advantage through turns 4 and 5, but Norris was unable to take the lead. In fact, as both cars exited Turn 5, Norris was briefly 0.125 seconds behind, but by Turn 5 he was 0.125 seconds behind. He beat his friend and rival by 0.167 seconds.:

And looking at the full delta graph, Verstappen was able to close that gap with the time remaining on the lap, but was never able to close it.

However, as mentioned above, there is something noteworthy about the final turn, Turn 14. Let’s look at the throttle data for the final turn.

As you can see, Norris picked up a little bit of speed on his way to Turn 14, whereas Verstappen was able to keep his foot on the gas into the final corner, allowing him to maintain great momentum down the long straight and back to the start/finish line.

This has led some to believe Verstappen is set for an even bigger Sunday.

Will Turn 14 be the difference between winning and losing tomorrow?

You’ll see it soon.