Despite facility fire, Norris edges Verstappen for pole at Spanish GP

McLaren's Formula One team went from escaping from a fire in their hospitality suite to celebrating a rare pole position by Lando Norris at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.

Norris edged points leader Max Verstappen after the British driver pulled off a blistering final run during qualifying.

Norris' great run was made more impressive given the circumstances. Just hours before, McLaren had to evacuate its hospitality suite because of a fire shortly before the last practice. McLaren said one team member was taken to a local hospital "for precaution." Two firefighters employed by the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were also treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation before being released, track officials said.

"The best thing is that everyone is safe, everyone is doing well," Norris said. "A bit of a scare for the whole team, just a bit of a more stressful day than I would have liked. I lost my shoes, that was as bad as it got for me."

McLaren's hospitality facility, a multi-story temporary structure that provides meals for staff and guests, started billowing smoke shortly before the third practice on Saturday morning. Firefighters responded, and said the blaze started in the kitchen. Track officials said the cause was under investigation, but it was not caused by an electrical problem.

Norris said the team would be unable to use the facility on race day. In addition to those ruined shoes, Lando said the belongings he did retrieve reeked of smoke. While insisting he wasn't complaining, he said the incident has deprived him of the rest room he used to "chill out" and focus.

"Maybe tomorrow it will impact me a bit more if I can't jut get that quiet time that I love, but it is not the end of the world," he said.

It didn't shake him during qualifying.

Just when Verstappen was seconds away from claiming another pole, Norris whipped around the 4.6-kilometer track to edge Verstappen by 0.02 seconds.