Oscar Piastri defeated his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The championship leader made the difference in the final run of Q3, putting two tenths on Norris after the pair had been closely matched before.
On the first run in the top-ten shootout Piastri opened with a time of one minute, 11.836 seconds lap, with teammate Norris replying with an effort of one minute, 11.819 seconds, just 0.017 seconds quicker than Oscar.
They resumed battle on the final run, with a superb second sector from Piastri key to his pole winning run of one minute, 11.546 seconds. Norris only marginally improved his lap time to settle for second as Oscar took the fourth pole of the 2025 season and his Formula 1 career.
Max Verstappen and George Russell set identical lap times to take the second row, with the Red Bull driver ahead of the Mercedes as he was first to cross the finishing line.
Lewis Hamilton beat his Mercedes replacement Andrea Kimi Antonelli to fifth, as well as Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who only completed a single Q3 run that left him seventh place.
Pierre Gasly qualified an excellent eighth for Alpine as he hopes to repeat his Bahrain Grand Prix performance, while Isack Hadjar continued his outstanding form with another top ten result in ninth for Racing Bulls.
Alonso offset his run plan by setting his only Q3 lap time in between everyone else’s two sets of runs, temporarily beating Verstappen to fifth much to the Aston Martin’s driver delight, but after the final series of runs Fernando dropped down to P10.
In Q1 it was plain sailing for the frontrunners, with Piastri leading the way from Verstappen and Norris, although the tiny margins meant there was less than two tenths separating Leclerc in sixth from the drop zone.
Before claiming P12 in Q2, Sauber’s Bortoleto had already starred by getting there in P10, with Bearman was also delighted to make it through in the Haas. Nico Hulkenberg was less successful after missing out on Q2 by half a tenth.
Ocon was also beaten by his rookie teammate, while Carlos Sainz was eliminated in P18 in front of his home fans. Franco Colapinto was eliminated by an issue on his Alpine that saw him unable to perform a final run, leaving him P19 on the grid.
But the biggest victim in Q1 was Yuki Tsunoda, who lost time in each sector to start last on the grid.
So well done to Oscar Piastri by beating his Papaya teammate to an important pole position. It will be interest if Lando Norris can fight back in the race. Bring on the Spanish Grand Prix!
Spanish Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:11.546
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.755
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.848
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.848
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:12.045
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:12.111
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:12.131
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:12.199
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:12.252
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:12.284
11 Alexander Albon Williams 1:12.641
12 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:12.756
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:12.763
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:13.058
15 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:13.315
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:13.190
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:13.201
18 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:13.203
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:13.334
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:13.385
Oscar Piastri has grabbed his fourth pole position of the season during Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, the championship leader beating McLaren team mate Lando Norris in the dying moments of the session.
After setting the pace across Q1 and Q2, Piastri lost out to Norris when the opening runs of Q3 took place, the Briton having snatched provisional pole. But it was advantage Piastri as the final flying laps came in, the Australian pumping in a 1m 11.546s to go 0.209s quicker than the other papaya car.
Max Verstappen put in another solid Qualifying performance to slot into third for Red Bull, while Mercedes’ George Russell set an identical lap time to the Dutchman but had to settle for fourth after crossing the line later.
Lewis Hamilton was the lead Ferrari in fifth, putting him ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes and the other Scuderia car of Charles Leclerc in sixth and seventh respectively. Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, took eighth for Alpine, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar again looking strong in ninth while home favourite Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin in 10th.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/piastri-beats-norris-to-pole-position-in-thrilling-spanish-gp-qualifying-as.38biWL7GKSbNDbuzk1n7wE
Max Verstappen is looking forward to seeing what might be possible from P3 on the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix, with the Dutchman admitting that he will try his best whilst acknowledging that McLaren seem “tough to beat”.
The papaya team continued their strong run of form throughout Qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, resulting in Oscar Piastri grabbing pole position ahead of team mate Lando Norris in the final moments.
Verstappen, however, was one of the team’s closest challengers across the session and ended Q3 in third place. The Red Bull driver set an identical lap time to Mercedes’ George Russell, but placed ahead of the Briton due to putting his lap in first.
Asked after Qualifying if the performance had been the maximum that the RB21 could deliver, Verstappen reflected: “I guess so. I think we were lacking all weekend compared to them, but I think we executed it well and that third position is where we more or less should be.
“It’s quite close behind as well so it’s fun around here, squeezing everything out of the car. The grip is always quite good even with the hot temperatures, but let’s see tomorrow what we can do from there.”
The World Champion went on to say that the squad had not done “too much” work overnight, adding: “I think we had a decent Friday actually, and we just made some final changes to the car.
“Of course, unfortunately it wasn’t enough to really challenge for the pole, but it’s okay.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-keen-to-see-what-we-can-do-from-p3-on-grid-in-spain-as-he-admits.2fcZtTWXBKzgysArtlTPfK
Lewis Hamilton believes it was “a waste of money” to force the teams to develop new wings despite a minor difference in balance, following Formula 1’s introduction of more stringent wing flex tests at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Prior to the Barcelona weekend, there were myriad suggestions that the likes of McLaren and Mercedes would be much closer to the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari with the mandatory introduction of new front wings.
It was suspected that the two teams had exploited the bounds of the regulations more so than others, in using front-wing flex to gain a more even balance between performance in the high-speed and low-speed corners.
A 5mm reduction of permissible flex in the wings when tested by the FIA had been introduced for Spain, ending a thread that began last season when Red Bull and Ferrari sought clarification from the governing body over their rivals’ wing designs.
In qualifying for the Spanish GP, McLaren shrugged off expectations by locking out the front row; polesitter Oscar Piastri was 0.3s faster than third-placed Max Verstappen.
Hamilton made his opinions known on the subject after qualifying and, like the other drivers, he felt that the overall balance was marginally compromised with the more rigid front wing, but also believed that the minimal effect rendered the development of new wings pointless.
“The balance is definitely not as nice as what we had before,” Hamilton said. “But it hasn’t made any [difference] – what a waste of money. It’s just wasted everyone’s money.
“It’s literally changed nothing. Everyone’s wings still bend. It’s just half the bending. And everyone’s had to make new wings and spend more money to make these. It doesn’t make sense. But it is what it is, and we just continue on.”
“I drove it on the simulator and it’s pretty much exactly the same. A little bit more oversteering at high speed.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewis-hamilton-slams-f1-spanish-gp-flexi-wing-changes-as-a-waste-of-money/10728444/
Just under six tenths of a second separated Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda in the first segment of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix – but it was enough for the Japanese Formula 1 driver to be eliminated in last.
It was another miserable afternoon for Tsunoda, who said after Friday’s practice sessions “I have no idea why I am slow”. What was more baffling for him after qualifying was that he felt his laps had been cleaner – just still not fast.
During Q1 he asked the team to “check the floor” because he had ridden over the exit of Turn 13 quite aggressively, but it’s understood this did not actually cause any damage.
“I don’t think it’s the set-up,” said Tsunoda, who is set to start his seventh grand prix for Red Bull since moving from sister squad Racing Bulls. “Because to be honest, we tried almost every set-up.
“There’s obviously some preference here and there, but I think I’m still convinced that we’re able to at least put it all together in terms of the car balance. And like I said, the car balance itself is not bad, and at least also my confidence was there.
“The lap in qualifying on both [sets of] tyres, especially the last push, was pretty good, so it doesn’t really stack up with my results and with the pace that I’m having.”
Throughout the weekend Tsunoda has complained about his RB21 sliding across both axles and suggesting the car has a “core limitation” he has been unable to resolve through set-up changes.
He has also alluded to an inexplicable – for him – drop-off in performance during previous weekends.
“The last two grands prix, some sessions I was matching or a bit faster than Max and suddenly it drops like hell,” Tsunoda added. “Even in the long runs [this weekend] was a good example. Whatever I do, nothing happens and it feels like this car is eating the tyres like hell, having degradation massively.
“It doesn’t really stack up and I think the core limitation is still there. I don’t know what it is and I can’t really have any answer for that.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/tsunoda-bewildered-by-p20-in-f1-spanish-gp-qualifying-after-pretty-good-lap/10728455/
Carlos Sainz cited a myriad of problems after he was knocked out in the first stage of Qualifying for his home race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, leaving him eager to break into the top 10 in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The Spaniard has never failed to score points around this track in his F1 career, but exiting Qualifying in P18 leaves him with the prospect of a challenging recovery drive in order to maintain his success here.
Williams have undergone a resurgence this year and regularly find themselves with at least one car in Q3, but neither Sainz nor Alex Albon were able to put together the necessary lap to progress, with the latter just missing out in P11.
One issue that Sainz experienced was an unusual kind of traffic as Franco Colapinto got stuck at the end of the pit lane towards the end of Q1, leaving the Williams in an unexpected position on the track and reduced time to improve his lap.
“Honestly, it was a very tricky Qualifying,” Sainz said following the session. “I thought today we had the pace to go through to Q3 if we put things together, but unfortunately we were out of position after Franco [Colapinto] had a problem in the pit lane.
“We went out really late in the middle of nowhere and we had to pass five or six cars on our push lap. Had loads of dirty air which compromised my performance, and in the end when the field is so tight, I think we were one-tenth and a half from P7 – we were P18.
“We’re going to try our best to make it back to the points. Tomorrow will be a good day to try something different and try and come back.
“At the same time, obviously it’s Barcelona and P18 is not the best position to start, but we’re going to do everything possible.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/sainz-rues-very-tricky-qualifying-that-left-him-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-at.PATuebD3t0vaaCwQVUwNC