Championship leader Oscar Piastri has secured an excellent starting position for the Spanish Grand Prix. At the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona, the Australian McLaren driver narrowly outperformed his teammate Lando Norris. Behind the dominant McLarens, four-time world champion Max Verstappen recorded the third-fastest time. He will therefore start from the second row on Sunday.
Here is a quick overview of the Spanish GP qualification.
Q1: Yuki Tsunoda the Biggest Loser
The first part of the qualifying session begins at four o’clock in sunny and warm conditions (29 degrees Celsius). Initially, the track remains quiet, but when the big guns come out, McLaren driver Lando Norris immediately takes the top spot on the timesheet with 1.12,799. Shortly after, the winner of the Monaco GP is replaced by his Australian teammate Oscar Piastri (1.12,551). In other words, the pecking order is immediately clear, despite the tightened regulations around the flexi-wings. Max Verstappen manages to squeeze between the two McLarens with his first fast run on the Spanish asphalt (1.12,798). His time is sufficient, ending his Q1 performance.
In the final phase of the first part of the qualification, Colapinto is stationary in the pit lane due to a technical defect. The drivers behind him decide to play it safe and drive past to still be able to set a fast run. The biggest loser is Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda, who falls short by just over two-tenths for a place in Q2. Colapinto has to park his Alpine car on the side due to a defective clutch.
Eliminated: Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Franco Colapinto, and Yuki Tsunoda.
Q2: Hadjar Outperforms Teammate Lawson Again
Max Verstappen starts Q2 well and records in his first flying lap (1.12,358), but Piastri and Norris immediately dive well under Verstappen’s time in their first attempt, with 1.11,998 and 1.12,056 respectively.
As the sky over the Montmeló circuit in Barcelona darkens, Verstappen decides against a second fast lap, as do the McLarens. In the fierce battle for a spot in Q3, Isack Hadjar once again performs well, clocking the sixth fastest time. The French-Algerian rookie from Racing Bulls qualifies, while his struggling teammate Liam Lawson falls short once again (thirteenth). Alexander Albon also fails to qualify.
Eliminated: Alexander Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll, and Oliver Bearman.
Q3: No Match for McLaren
For the final twelve minutes of the qualifying session, Max Verstappen immediately hits the track on fresh soft tires. Piastri is the first to set a fast time (1.11,836), but he is soon outdone by Lando Norris (1.11,819). Behind the two McLarens, George Russell, Charles, and Max Verstappen achieve the third, fourth, and fifth fastest times, respectively. The gap between Verstappen and Norris is substantial, over half a second.
While Fernando Alonso delights the Spanish crowd with a minor upset in his Aston Martin, even taking a small victory lap (he dips under Verstappen’s time), the Dutchman goes for a second chance in the final stages. On the asphalt where he achieved his very first F1 victory in 2016, he improves his time to 1.11,848. This is ultimately good enough for the third fastest time.
McLaren once again proves to be dominant. Oscar Piastri secures pole position with a time of 1.11,546, beating Norris (1.11,755). The conclusion after the qualifying session is clear: no one can match the speed of McLaren.
Top-10: Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Antonelii, Leclerc, Gaslu, Hadjar, Alonso.
The race begins on Sunday at 13:00 UTC.
