Oscar Piastri stormed to pole position for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, heading-up a McLaren 1-2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The Australian’s 1:11.546s saw him grab the biggest pole margin of the season, with team-mate Lando Norris second, two tenths behind.
Max Verstappen was third, with George Russell fourth, both men a further tenth behind, ensuring McLaren are in a prime position to take victory.
Piastri, Norris and Russell all got in their banker laps early, followed by Leclerc. Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso also got up the order, and with around seven minutes to go, Verstappen took his first flying lap, immediately displacing Norris into second place.
Oliver Bearman worked his way up to 10th, as cars returned to the pits for a fresh set of tyres.
With just under four minutes remaining, the queue bunched-up like peak time at Piccadilly Circus as a gaggle of cars took to the track to secure their place in Q2.
As time began to run out, Antonelli got up to fifth ahead of Leclerc, with Hamilton initially in the danger zone, but managing to take 11th.
Despite Haas’ poor free practice showings, Bearman took 12th, but Esteban Ocon would be out.
However, the big casualty was Yuki Tsunoda, rock bottom at the food of the pack, with Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg and home favourite Carlos Sainz following him, the latter’s Williams struggling to find performance on the Barcelona track.
Gabriel Bortoleto impressed, getting his Sauber into Q2 by a tenth-and-a-half, in 10th place.
Colapinto’s harsh reality back into F1 continued with his Q1 exit, his Alpine coming to a stop on the pit exit with a technical issue.
Albon accuses Haas of “dirty” tricks
Laptimes were beginning to get shorter, as Piastri became the first to break out of the 1:12.000s, with a 1:11.998s.
Norris was half-a-tenth behind, with Verstappen three tenths down. Russell, Hamilton and Leclerc were all roughly half-a-second behind.
Alonso was still keeping the home fans’ expectations high by occupying seventh, with Bortoleto just off the magic 10th place.
Lance Stroll was looking good to work his way into Q3, but his final sector let him sown to see him pop up in 12th.
Albon got into the top 10 with 15 seconds to go, as Bortoleto narrowly missed out, with Hadjar improving on his time to go sixth-fastest, knocking out Albon.
Liam Lawson couldn’t improve and he was also out, with Bearman following him.
Albon was angry to be eliminated, accusing Bearman of purposely driving slowly in Sector 3 on his lap, calling it “dirty.”
Piastri hooks it up to take dominant pole
Piastri was now going quicker and quicker, a 1:11:836s early in Q3 put him in the driving seat, with Russell second. Norris’ first run saw him eclipse Piastri’s time, going faster by less than two hundredths of a second.
As drivers began contemplating a second run with five minutes to go, Russell was third, with Leclerc fourth, two tenths ahead of Verstappen in fifth.
Alonso gave his fans something big to cheer about by going fifth, as the McLarens went back out on fresh tyres with just three minutes to go.
Raising a triumphant arm out of the cockpit to a partisan crowd, Alonso seemed content with his day’s work, regardless of where he may drop down to.
It seemed to be a showdown between the two McLarens, as Norris went first on his final run. In Sector 1, he bettered his time by a tenth, but Piastri went a tenth quicker.
Norris was a tenth quicker than his own previous personal best, with Piastri was now two tenths quicker.
The Brit was six hundredths ahead of himself at the finish, but Piastri set a 1:11.546s to take pole.
Hamilton and then Verstappen went third, but Russell could only manage fourth after setting the exact same time, leaving the Red Bull to head the second row, with Hamilton fifth.
Alonso was eventually relegated to 10th, but still a sterling effort, with Antonelli sixth, Leclerc a disappointing seventh, with Gasly and Hadjar eighth and ninth.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
