McLaren dominated practice at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Oscar Piastri the favourite for pole after looking more hooked up than team-mate Lando Norris heading into qualifying
Oscar Piastri lived up to the promise he showed in practice to snatch pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. He faced fierce competition from team-mate Lando Norris but found more pace than the Brit on his final run of qualifying when it really mattered.
Norris was at the top of the timesheets at the end of the top 10’s first runs in the final part of Saturday’s session. He was helped by an inadvertent tow from team-mate Piastri who called him “cheeky” over the radio when he realised what the Brit had managed to do.
But the Aussie had the last laugh with a tremendous final effort which saw him post a time more than two-tenths of a second clear of anyone else. McLaren will be delighted to lock out the front row, as will Max Verstappen who will recognise that third on the grid was the best he was going to be able to do.
George Russell rediscovered his qualifying from to join the Dutchman on the front row. And after a wretched time in practice, Lewis Hamilton produced a stellar lap to go fifth fastest, two places ahead of Charles Leclerc in the other Ferrari, the two of them split by Kimi Antonelli.
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Fernando Alonso delighted the locals by making it to the top 10 in his Aston Martin. But there was only pain for the other Spaniard in the fight with Carlos Sainz suffering an unexpectedly early exit, leaving him towards the back of the grid for Sunday’s race.
There were some big disappointments in the early stages, including at Red Bull who saw Yuki Tsunoda qualify 20th and last. He was the only one slower than Franco Colapinto who suffered a problem in the pit lane as he went out on track for his final lap of Q1 and didn’t get the chance to try to improve his time on an improving track.
The locals groaned as Sainz also failed to progress, meaning he will start his home race 18th on the grid. Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were the other drivers disappointed to find themselves in the bottom five at the end of that first part of qualifying.
Williams would not have either of their drivers in the top 10 as Alex Albon narrowly missed out, accusing Oliver Bearman of “dirty” tactics over the radio, believing they had purposely given him turbulent air to drive through on the last corner of his final flying lap.
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He was ahead of the impressive rookie Gabriel Bortoleto who steered his Sauber to 12th on the grid – the best qualifying result of his short F1 career to date. He was faster than Liam Lawson in 13th, ahead of Lance Stroll while Bearman had to settle for just 15th as Haas endured a difficult Saturday in Barcelona.