Barcelona - Qualifying

There was no break for the drivers after the messy, unexpected Monaco Grand Prix. Without a weekend to rest and regenerate, they moved to Barcelona, where the well-known Catalunyan circuit awaited them with all its challenges. Before the qualifying hour began, the Mercedes and the McLarens looked like the teams set to battle for pole. Did they end up as the frontrunners, or did someone else surprise the fans?

Most of the top teams waited a good few minutes before appearing on the circuit, giving their relatively slower competitors a chance to see the world from the top of the standings, even if only for a short while. Carlos Sainz managed the best time out of those who appeared on the track as soon as the green light shone at the end of the pit lane, but he was pushed down when the Red Bulls, Mercedes, McLarens, and Ferraris appeared on the circuit. Lewis Hamilton was the quickest of all, with George Russell, Charles Leclerc, and Kimi Antonelli close behind. Despite their good form in practice, the McLarens did not appear in the top four. The Cadillacs and the Aston Martins, expected not to move through to the Q2, were joined in the elimination zone by Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon, neither of whom could produce a lap on par with those of their teammates. 

Nico Hulkenberg began Q2 by seeing his lap time deleted after he exceeded track limits on turn 9. This meant that his whole session hung on the second flying lap. Before he could get to it, however, the other drivers finished attempts of their own. This time, it was Russell who landed on the very top, followed by the Ferraris and his Mercedes teammate. The McLarens performed their first flyers on old tires and, accordingly, finished behind their immediate rivals. Unfortunately for them, even their second attempts were not enough to push them to the top of the standings. Meanwhile, in the back, the midfielders were desperately clinging to the few remaining spots in the top 10. Hulkenberg shone on his second attempt and managed to move through into Q3 for the first time this season. Arvid Lindblad, Gabriel Bortoleto, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly, Oliver Bearman, and Carlos Sainz were not as lucky.

Q3 started on time, but did not go on for long before the clock was stopped by a red flag. With eight minutes still left in the session, Leclerc hit the wall by turn four in a rather unusual crash that put him out of contention for the front row or any other satisfying qualifying position. After the short break during which his Ferrari was removed from the circuit, the remaining nice drivers returned to the laps they were forced to abandon. Everyone but Lando Norris, Liam Lawson, and Hulkenberg opted for a two-shot strategy. Oscar Piastri was on top before Leclerc's incident, but he was pushed down the order by Russell, whose first flyer secured him the provisional pole. His teammate could not beat his effort during his first attempt, but did so during the second, albeit only for a few short seconds. Russell took the position right back, quickly converting the provisional pole into the real thing. Surprisingly enough, Antonelli did not keep his position on the front row, outqualified by the lightning-fast Hamilton, whose final lap time was only 0.064s slower than that of Russell. 

Order of the grid:

1. George Russell

2. Lewis Hamilton

3. Kimi Antonelli

4. Lando Norris

5. Max Verstappen

6. Isack Hadjar

7. Oscar Piastri

8. Liam Lawson

9. Isack Hadjar

10. Charles Leclerc

11. Arvid Lindblad

12. Gabriel Bortoleto

13. Franco Colapinto

14. Pierre Gasly

15. Oliver Bearman

16. Carlos Sainz

17. Esteban Ocon

18. Alex Albon

19. Sergio Perez

20. Valtteri Bottas

21. Lance Stroll

22. Fernando Alonso