Verstappen Takes First Barcelona Pole Ahead Of A Jumbled Spanish GP

Max Verstappen claimed his first-ever Pole Position in Barcelona after a Qualifying session riddled with early exits led to an interesting grid for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Qualifying 1:

The drivers queued in the pit lane, all on the soft tyre with their sights set on securing a banker lap before the forecasted rain hit at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Yuki Tsunoda led the grid out of the pit lane and was the first to fall victim to the damp track, sliding on the exit of Turn 11 resulting in a big flat spot for his right front tyre.

The Alpha Tauri driver wasn’t the only car to get caught out at Turn 11/12, with Nyck de Vries and Valtteri Bottas both experiencing moments of their own in the reportedly wettest area of the track.

Fernando Alonso had a scare at the final corner, getting caught out by the speed of his Aston Martin leading to a trip through the gravel trap at Turn 14.

Derivative of these incidents, Race Control called a red flag with 14 minutes remaining to clear up any gravel that had fallen on the track in the early stages of Q1.

With the green light displayed in the pit lane, the Alfa Romeo duo led the way ahead of the Ferraris who were yet to set a time before the red flag. 

Charles Leclerc was the first of the two Ferraris to set a time, and on a messy lap only managed to go twelfth fastest seeing him vulnerable to the elimination zone.

It was his teammate, however, who was the quicker of the two, jumping to second despite a near run-in with a slow-moving Pierre Gasly.

The incident was referred to the stewards, leaving Gasly at risk of a potential grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri cemented a strong time just 0.076 seconds behind Max Verstappen’s benchmark time, while his teammate, Lando Norris, was running safely in P8.

Leclerc continued to struggle, and after finding himself in the elimination zone alongside Sergio Perez, returned to his garage with 4 minutes to go.

Also at risk were both Alex Albon, who had a spin earlier in the session and his teammate, whose early end to FP3 caused his team extra work in between sessions.

Gasly, after impeding Sainz’s lap and being involved in a similar incident with Verstappen at Turn 4, momentarily jumped to the top of the timing sheets before the faster times began rolling in.

Perez’s recovery lap saw him get his Red Bull up to P4 at one point, however, over two-tenths off his teammate’s pace, a distance that would see him relegated to P15 at the conclusion of Q1.

Ferrari’s misfortune is set to continue, with Leclerc starting the Grand Prix from P19 after failing to make it out of the elimination zone.

Also missing out on advancing to Q2 were Bottas, Kevin Magnussen and both Williams. 

Qualifying 2:

Max Verstappen opened his Q2 charge by setting three purple sectors across the lap, recording a time eight-tenths ahead of his teammate who was running on a used set of soft tyres.

Sparking cheers from the grandstands, Fernando Alonso jumped to P2, however, a substantial five-tenths behind the Red Bull.   

While Lewis Hamilton settled in with the second fastest time and a purple Sector 3, his teammate was reportedly unhappy with his tyres and was experiencing unwanted bouncing in his W14 across the lap. 

With 2 minutes remaining in Q2, Sergio Perez pushed his Red Bull over the limit, running off at speed to the gravel trap up at Turn 5. 

The Mexican driver was forced to sprint to the line to give himself one last opportunity at a flying lap, however, he failed to make enough of an improvement seeing Perez set to start the Grand Prix from P11.

The drama continued for an unsettled George Russell who was also knocked out in Q2. 

The Mercedes driver made bizarre contact with his teammate under braking down the main straight, leaving Hamilton’s front wing wounded ahead of the final top-ten shootout.

Sainz was a bystander to the incident, remaining unaffected as he safely moved through to Q3 in P3.  

Both Mclarens performed strongly in the second portion of qualifying with Lando Norris advancing in P2 and his rookie teammate not far behind in P6.

Also knocked out in Q2 were Zhou Guanyu, de Vries and Tsunoda.

Qualifying 3:

With two Spaniards occupying spots in the top ten shootout, the Spanish crowd were on their feet for the entirety of Q3. 

Verstappen set the time to beat, sitting in provisional pole alongside Hamilton with a time of 1:12.272.

Norris’s first attempt saw him on land on the second row ahead of Esteban Ocon, before he joined the rest of the remaining cars back in the pits.

Oscar Piastri wasn’t too far behind his teammate, sitting over two-tenths back in P6.

With the track all to himself, Hulkenberg gave his team something to cheer about as he set a time quick enough for a provisional P3. 

Alonso emerged to the track for the first time in Q3 with just under 3 minutes remaining in the session.

The fan favourite failed to make an impact on the timing sheets, seeing him set to start his home Grand Prix from P9.

The other Spaniard on the grid gave the crowd something more positive to cheer for, Sainz qualifying on the front row of the grid alongside Max Verstappen.

The second row for tomorrow’s race currently comprises of Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly, with the latter remaining under investigation for two impeding incidents. 

Row 3 will see Lewis Hamilton alongside Lance Stroll, while Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg will file in behind.

Oscar Piastri rounds out the top 10, 1.4 seconds off Verstappen’s quickest time of 1:12.272, to complete an interesting grid for the Spanish Grand Prix. 

Lights will go out for the Spanish Grand Prix at 11:00 pm on Sunday (AEST).

Spanish Grand Prix Starting Grid:

Download the full F1 Spanish Grand Prix event guide here with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles.

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