Piastri stuns in Barcelona with season’s biggest Pole margin

Oscar Piastri delivered when it mattered most, powering to pole by the largest margin of the season over his teammate in a commanding McLaren display that looked inevitable from the outset of Qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Qualifying 1:

With practice done and dusted, the time for fine-tuning was over as Q1 marked the first real test of outright pace.

It was a tame start to the first stage of Qualifying, with only those desperate to perform a miracle around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya leaving the pitlane when the light went green.

Pushing his way out of the pitlane chaos, Liam Lawson kicked off his opening flying lap with a benchmark time of 1:13.482s, compiled of the fastest overall run through the middle sector before losing that title to the quicker McLaren.

As his competitors crossed the line behind the Kiwi, his initial joy quickly transformed into worry as he slipped all the way down to P15, with less than a tenth saving him from the elimination zone as he peeled out of the pitlane for one final attempt. 

Lawson was the first driver out on track, and as a result, he was the first driver to take the chequered flag, however, personal best sectors made that a less daunting prospect when he shot into P7, advancing safely with a time of 1:13.039s.

With just over ten minutes on the clock, Oscar Piastri had finally managed to break free of the pitlane traffic jam as he commenced his outlap. 

Speeding through his initial run, Piastri set the fastest middle sector to finish two and a half tenths up on his teammate, claiming the early benchmark in the process. 

With two minutes on the clock, the Australian geared up for his second and final attempt, however, he deemed it unnecessary as he retreated to the pitlane with his fastest time of a 1:12.551s seeing him through to Q2.

As for the rest of the field, 13 minutes were all the bulk of the field required to kick off their Q1 campaigns. 

The McLarens were unsurprisingly the team to beat as they slotted into an early P1 and P2, however, Max Verstappen brought the fight to his championship rivals, splitting Piastri and Norris as he edged one millisecond ahead of the latter. 

At the back end of the field, the first round of attempts saw Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda and Gabriel Bortoleto as the drivers at risk of an early exit.

Their worries were compounded when Franco Colapinto suffered an issue in the pitlane, holding the queue up before the Alpine replacement was forced to retire from the session on the grass at the pit exit.

But despite the late chaos, every driver made it to the line in time, with the next minute or so revealing a mix of heartbreak and elation.

Struggling all weekend, the second Red Bull driver made his weekend all the more difficult after failing to improve from the bottom five — in fact, Tsunoda set the slowest overall lap in Q1 to secure himself last place for the Spanish Grand Prix — despite feeling confident with the lap he completed. 

Also facing disappointment as he crossed the line was the home favourite, Sainz, who just didn’t have the pace in his Williams to move any further up the order than P18, accepting the “not good” result as he was wheel back into his garage, facing the possibility of his points-scoring streak on home soil coming to an end tomorrow.

Joining Tsunoda and Sainz in the bottom five were Hulkenberg, Ocon and Colapinto, with the two rookies of Ollie Bearman and Bortoleto celebrating their minor feats after securing their respective places in Q2.

Qualifying 2:

With five drivers gone, Q2 trimmed the field closer to the final cut as the battle for a spot in the top ten tightened.

It was an instant race out of the pitlane between Alex Albon and the sole remaining Spaniard Fernando Alonso as the pair tussled for track position around Turn 1, however, it proved fruitless for the Aston Martin who was seemingly scrubbing a set of tyres as he returned to the pitlane 4.7km later. 

Albon went on to record an early benchmark of 1:13.113s ahead of only Bearman before the rest of the field joined the action in the final ten minutes of Q2.

Lawson formed part of the large group that exited the pitlane during that moment, setting a time of 1:13.102s which left him down in a vulnerable P12 after his competitors followed behind.

Leaving the pitlane with the clock permitting just one more attempt, the Racing Bulls driver opened the lap by setting personal best sector after personal best sector.

A poor run through the final few corners ruined his progress, however, leaving the Kiwi in a disappointing P13 for tomorrow’s 66-lap race, with Isack Hadjar three-tenths up the road and advancing in P6.

On a positive note, the result on Saturday means Lawson is officially out-qualifying Tsunoda since being demoted from Red Bull, with the battle now leaning 4-3 in the Kiwi’s favour.

McLaren unleashed Piastri with ten minutes on the clock, with the Australian instantly making an impression on the timesheets after recording the fastest opening sector on his way to the top of the field.

With a time of 1:11.998s, the Australian didn’t feel the need to emerge for a second time, advancing to the top ten shootout as the man to beat once again.

It was the McLaren duo back on top after the first Q2 tour of the familiar Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Norris initially at a 0.058s deficit to his teammate, while Verstappen trailed a decent three-tenths further back.

George Russell slotted comfortably into P4 — so comfortable he offered to give his rookie teammate a tow across the 14 corners after Antonelli only managed to set the ninth-fastest time.

At the other end of the spectrum, Bortoleto, Lawson, Albon, Lance Stroll and Bearman were officially the drivers at risk in the bottom five, with the most to prove when the session reignited with three minutes remaining.

The Aston Martin driver was the first to improve, however, it wasn’t enough to join his veteran teammate in the top ten, while Bortoleto also narrowly missed out on a place in Q3. 

That trend followed the rest of the original bottom five, with Albon the closest to the top ten but blaming “dirty” tactics from Haas for his P11 result in Spain, ahead of the Sauber, RB, Aston and Haas drivers.

Notably making it through to the top ten shootout were the two Frenchmen Hadjar and Pierre Gasly, with the pair, alongside Alonso, set to duel for track position ahead of a tight midfield battle.

Qualifying 3:

In the final shootout, the difference between pole and playing catch-up on Sunday came down to the smallest of margins, with the high standard of the remaining ten drivers leaving no room for error in the battle for grid position.

The expectation across the paddock was clear — McLaren looked set to lock out the front row — with Red Bull boss Christian Horner suggesting the real battle would be for third place.

Piastri put his best foot forward as he headed the queue of cars at the pit exit, awaiting the green light before unleashing a new level of pace on his fresh set of soft compound tyres.

His MCL39 was on rails as he recorded purple sectors across the entire lap, setting a provisional pole time of 1:11.836s which his rivals from opposing teams failed to match.

Aided by a “cheeky” opportunistic tow from the #81, Norris was the only driver capable of beating Piastri’s original Q3 time, going 0.017s quicker thanks to a flying Sector 1.

Behind, Russell was frustrated with his team’s strategy which left him a “conservative” two-tenths back on the McLaren duo, with Leclerc and the home hero Alonso rounding out the provisional top five grid slots. 

With three minutes on the clock, the field exited the pitlane for their last ditch attempts at edging closer to the front of the order, with Hadjar the only driver yet to record a lap time. 

First on the timesheets and first on track, Norris led the charge around the 4.7km track, however, he struggled to find pace across the lap, dropping off in Sector 2 to make only a minor improvement as he took the chequered flag.

It was a completely different story for Piastri who made strides as he lit up the timesheets with purple sectors, crossing the line over two-tenths quicker than Norris to reclaim provisional pole by the largest margin of the season.

His fastest lap of 1:11.546s was untouchable despite the remaining eight drivers’ efforts, securing him his fourth career pole position on a weekend that sees his championship margin over Norris sitting at an all-time low. 

The #81 and #4’s flying pace earned McLaren its first front-row lockout in Barcelona since 1998, with the Australian out-qualifying Norris for the fifth time this season before signing off Qualifying by saying: “Let’s have ourselves some fun tomorrow”.

Behind the Papaya party, the earlier message rang true that the battle for P3 was the real contest.

Having had a relatively quiet session up until Q3, Lewis Hamilton temporarily boosted his SF25 into the top three, however, Verstappen was quick to spoil his Spanish fun when he knocked the seven-time world champion down a peg.

The Dutchman himself was at risk of demotion when Russell rounded the final corner, recording an identical time of 1:11.848s, but given he set the lap after Verstappen, he was forced to settle for P4.

As a result, Hamilton found himself locked into a P5 start for tomorrow’s race, sharing Row 3 with his Mercedes replacement, while his current teammate remained in the garage during the final moments of Q3, not setting a second lap and accepting P7.

The final three drivers were engaged in a battle of their own, with Gasly coming out on top to share Row 4 with his good mate, while Hadjar and Alonso rounded out the top ten — the latter also opting not to run for a second flying lap in Q3.

But despite the effort the entire field put into the hour showdown, points are scored tomorrow.

The 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix will kick off at 23:00 AEST, with all eyes on the Australian as he leads the pack on the 595-metre run to Turn 1.

Image: Formula 1

Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Results:

2025 Spanish Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, May 30:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 31:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, June 01:

Quali: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

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