Lando Norris took a surprise pole position at the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, snatching the top spot away from Kimi Antonelli in the dying seconds of Q3.
Q1
Cars were keen to take to the track at the green light as qualifying for the F1 Spanish GP began. One driver not taking part was Oliver Bearman, who had to miss qualifying after a heavy crash in the dying seconds of FP3. Albon, who lightly touched the wall, was able to take the start of Q1, much to the relief of Williams after a difficult start to the weekend in Madrid.
Antonelli, fastest in two of three free practice sessions, was the first to set a lap using the soft compound, straight into the 1:33s. When the rest of the field had completed their runs Lawson led the way. A lockup for Antonelli very nearly put him in the wall after he initially topped the times, dropping to fifth. Verstappen lay second, less than a tenth of a second behind on mediums, with Russell a nervous sixth after hitting the wall.
In the lower order, both Aston Martins joined the Cadillac drivers, Alex Albon, the non-participating Bearman, and Stroll, who failed to set a lap to due to a suspected water pressure problem. The battle for the final Q2 place fell to the two Spaniards, with Stroll not setting a lap time.
At the chequered flag however, both failed to progress, with Albon pipping both of them into the bottom six, with only the two Cadillacs setting a lap time to try and progress to Q2, though these were wide of the mark. Sergio Perez’s lap proved to be something spectacular despite his lowly grid spot, as he qualified a stunning 1.9 seconds faster than his teammate.
Eliminated: Sainz, Alonso, Perez, Bottas, Bearman, Stroll
Q2
The cars queued to exit the pit lane once again at the start of Q2, with Russell leading them out at the green flag. The opening laps focused on the two duelling Mercedes drivers, with Antonelli winning out, this time lowering the lap time into the 1:32 range. Once the rest of the drivers had completed their first runs, Verstappen topped the times, less than a tenth clear of Antonelli, with Russell in third, Liam Lawson in fourth followed by Norris and the two Ferraris.
The elimination zone saw both Alpine’s at the bottom, as neither had set a competitive lap time. Gasly collected a massive sideways moment through La Monumental of which he was lucky to not to crash. This left Albon, Gabriel Bortoleto, Yuki Tsunoda, and Esteban Ocon battling to progress to Q3. though the half second gap between 11th and 12th made the task facing those even more challenging.
The final runs saw the Alpines venture out early in an attempt to avoid traffic. Gasly’s first attempt only saw him 11th, while Colapinto jumped from 16th to eighth. This demoted both Audis, with Gasly taking to the radio to confirm a lack of grip was behind his lowly P14. The other drivers in the elmination zone failed to improve, sealing their fates.
Eliminated: Hulkenberg, Bortoleto, Ocon, Gasly, Tsunoda, Albon
Q3
The drivers were queuing in the pit lane before Q3 began, with Antonelli winning this important battle against his teammate and rivals. He jumped into provisional pole position, with Russell slotting into second. But Hamilton set three purple sector and jumped to the top of the timings, less than a tenth of a second clear of the Italian. Charles Leclerc could only manage fourth, followed by Verstappen and Norris.
The lower order consisted of Piastri, Lawson, Colapinto and Lindblad, although the latter two were cut off from the rest of the top ten, with Colapinto almost a full second away from Lawson in eighth. A lull then descended over the circuit as teams prepared their cars for the final laps of qualifying around the Madring, with the tightest of margins set to decide pole position.
The cars once again formed an orderly queue at pit exit, as they all did their best to secure a quiet piece of tarmac. Verstappen and the two McLarens were last to exit the pits after waiting in their garages and would therefore be the final cars to set a lap.
As the clock ticked down, the two Mercedes instantly found pace, with Antonelli setting the fastest first sector, taking pole position back by nearly three tenths of a second. Leclerc found himself in range, but ended up in fifth. Norris pulled a barnstorming lap out of the bag to snatch pole. with Verstappen third, and Russell a disappointed sixth. Piastri, Lawson, Colapinto and Lindblad rounded out the top ten.
Top 10: Norris, Antonelli, Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell, Piastri, Lawson, Colapinto, Linblad
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