Piastri pips Norris for pole in Barcelona; Verstappen heads Russell, P3 to P4
In a tense and intriguing Saturday Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris set the ultimate one-lap pace with a blistering final effort to wrest pole position from his teammate, Lando Norris. with Norris sitting atop the pylon ahead of the final flying laps of Q3, Piastri was letter perfect in all three sectors of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, while Norris seemed to overdrive on his ultimate effort and ended up losing time to his hard-charging Aussie teammate. It was Piastri’s fifth pole of the season but only the second front row lockout for team McLaren.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also saved his best for last, getting the better of the very competitive Mercedes of George Russell, P3 to P4. Both of those elite drivers will be looking to pounce if there is any kind of kerfuffle between the McLaren duo on the opening lap of tomorrow’s race, a distinct possibility as their duel for the championship really heats up. Verstappen’s quali was even more impressive in the context of the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda ending up dead last in P20, while Russell’s Silver Arrows wingman Kimi Antonelli earned a more representative P6. No matter who Red Bull put in that second car, it seems apparent that only Verstappen can get a handle on the tricky RB21.
Filling out a very competitive top seven, Ferrari showed well, with Lewis Hamilton getting the better of Charles Leclerc, P5 to P7, at a track where the seven-time champ has always run well. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in P8, Racing Bulls’ impressive rookie Isack Hadjar in P9 and home race favorite Fernando Alonso in P10 rounded out the top ten starting spots on the grid.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Spanish GP:
|
POS |
NO |
DRIVER |
CAR |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
81 |
Oscar Piastri |
McLaren Mercedes |
1:12.551 |
1:11.998 |
1:11.546 |
14 |
|
2 |
4 |
Lando Norris |
McLaren Mercedes |
1:12.799 |
1:12.056 |
1:11.755 |
15 |
|
3 |
1 |
Max Verstappen |
Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT |
1:12.798 |
1:12.358 |
1:11.848 |
12 |
|
4 |
63 |
George Russell |
Mercedes |
1:12.806 |
1:12.407 |
1:11.848 |
12 |
|
5 |
44 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Ferrari |
1:13.058 |
1:12.447 |
1:12.045 |
15 |
|
6 |
12 |
Kimi Antonelli |
Mercedes |
1:12.815 |
1:12.585 |
1:12.111 |
18 |
|
7 |
16 |
Charles Leclerc |
Ferrari |
1:13.014 |
1:12.495 |
1:12.131 |
12 |
|
8 |
10 |
Pierre Gasly |
Alpine Renault |
1:13.081 |
1:12.611 |
1:12.199 |
18 |
|
9 |
6 |
Isack Hadjar |
Racing Bulls Honda RBPT |
1:13.139 |
1:12.461 |
1:12.252 |
15 |
|
10 |
14 |
Fernando Alonso |
Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes |
1:13.102 |
1:12.523 |
1:12.284 |
14 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.
Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9 AM Eastern here in the States. While McLaren are clearly the cars to beat, those directly behind them will be hoping they beat themselves and will be looking to pounce on any internecine combat between Piastri and Norris. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!