Lando Norris has revealed he came within inches of ploughing his McLaren into a wall en route to securing a sensational pole for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Norris did not appear in the mix before his stunning final lap at the new Madring circuit, but somehow finished just 0.011s ahead of championship leader Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.
"I'm shocked," said Norris. "I'm a little bit surprised to be here now. My God, it was probably one of the best laps I've done - ever in my career."
Over the radio a few minutes earlier, Norris had said that his lap "might be the best one".
Declaring himself "very happy, very proud, very happy for the team", he added: "It was 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 would let me do it on the last lap, and everything pretty much worked perfectly.
"I'm just very happy. It's one of those laps where you look at the lap time at the end, and you're like, 'Oh shit! That was pretty good'."
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Norris feared overnight repairs for McLaren mechanics
The lap handed Norris the 19th pole of his F1 career, and third this season, but he confirmed it almost never was.
"The adrenaline was high on the last lap," he said. "It's just one where you have to relax, let it all flow. It's easy to get tense around here, and there are a lot of walls that come at you pretty quickly.
"Honestly, I've been feeling pretty confident, and the car was feeling good, so I felt pretty good out there. I just wasn't doing what I wanted. I wasn't feeling relaxed. The last lap, I just took a good breath, and everything came together.
"It was pretty much perfect, but the last corner I thought I was in the wall, and the boys would have to repair the car tonight.
"So it could have been a little bit better, but nevertheless, it was one of the best laps I've done. Everything I wanted to achieve, I achieved. That's one of the moments where you're in that flow state, and it has put a big smile on my face, so I'm happy."
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