Lewis Hamilton was downbeat after a first grand prix pole position for Ferrari was snatched away from him in the final moments of qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix. The 41-year-old, who crashed in final practice earlier in the day, was in top spot on the leaderboard after the first round of laps in Q3. However, McLaren’s Lando Norris produced a stunning lap at the death to take pole, with Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen also nipping in for second and third respectively. Hamilton will start the first race at the Madring on Sunday in fourth spot. Speaking on team radio to his race engineer Carlo Santi afterwards, Hamilton said: “It’s a dodgy set of tyres. Sorry guys, I gave it everything.”Elaborating further on his final few laps in qualifying, Hamilton told Sky Sports: “Second lap was just as good as the other one, it was the same time pretty much. I think I was a little bit, half a tenth quicker or something like that. “But, for some reason, we went into that last lap and as I started, came round the last corner, I had understeer and I was like ‘maybe these front tyres are not switched on,’ [but] just turned out I just had more rear and more understeer through the lap.”Hamilton did take pole position for Ferrari at the sprint race in China last year, but remains without a grand prix P1 showing in qualifying for the Scuderia. Reigning F1 world champion Norris, meanwhile, could not contain his excitement after securing pole in the Spanish capital. “I am shocked and a little bit surprised to be here now, but my God, it was probably one of the best laps I have done in my career,” he said. Hamilton missed out on pole on Saturday (PA Wire)“It was one of those laps where everything came together. It was just whether my brain allowed me to do it and in the end it was perfect.“You look at the lap time, and you are like, ‘Oh s***, that feels pretty good’.”Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc came home in fifth while George Russell, Antonelli’s closest title contender, will start a disappointing sixth on the grid. The 57-lap race on Sunday starts at 2pm BST.
Hamilton reacts after missing out on first Ferrari pole: ‘It’s a dodgy set of tyres’
The 41-year-old was on provisional pole position but will start in fourth at the new street circuit in Madrid on Sunday











