Spanish GP Qualifying: Oscar Piastri beats Lando Norris to pole as McLaren seal front-row lockout in Barcelona

Oscar Piastri claimed pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, securing a front-row lockout for McLaren ahead of his teammate Lando Norris.

Although Norris held the provisional pole after the first runs in the final qualifying session, Piastri delivered a stunning final lap (1:11.546) to snatch his fourth pole position of the season. Piastri currently leads Norris by three points in the drivers` championship standings.

Lando Norris, fresh off his pole and victory in Monaco, couldn`t quite match Piastri`s final effort. A few small errors on his last attempt meant he finished just two-tenths of a second adrift.

Max Verstappen and George Russell were closely matched behind the McLarens, finishing third and fourth respectively with identical lap times. Verstappen`s Red Bull secured the higher grid spot as he set his time earlier than Russell`s Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth for Ferrari, managing to outpace his teammate Charles Leclerc, who took seventh behind Kimi Antonelli`s Mercedes. This was only the second time in nine Grand Prix qualifying sessions this season that Hamilton has finished ahead of Leclerc.

McLaren`s dominant performance this weekend dismissed suggestions that they would be negatively impacted by a new technical directive limiting front wing flexibility. The team showed formidable pace from the start, defying expectations that reigning champions Red Bull might have an advantage and indicating that the championship battle could indeed be fought between McLaren`s own drivers.

Further down the grid, Pierre Gasly put in an impressive performance for Alpine, qualifying in eighth place. Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar continued to impress, securing ninth, just ahead of Aston Martin`s Fernando Alonso.

Troubles persisted for Red Bull`s second car, with Yuki Tsunoda failing to make it out of Q1 and qualifying last for the third race in a row.

Spanish GP Qualifying: Top 10

1) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2) Lando Norris, McLaren
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
4) George Russell, Mercedes
5) Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
6) Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
7) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
8) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
9) Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls
10) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

Piastri Strikes in Intense Title Battle

After McLaren`s strong showing in Friday practice made the close competition between Piastri and Norris evident, Saturday`s qualifying culminated in a thrilling Q3 showdown between the two teammates.

Having been slightly slower than Piastri in final practice, Norris recovered strongly by the start of Q3 to be a major contender for pole.

Norris momentarily gained from a tow behind Piastri at the start of his first Q3 flying lap. Piastri quickly moved aside and slowed down once he realized his teammate was following him closely.

Norris posted a significantly faster time in the opening sector on his first run, giving him a slight 0.017-second lead over Piastri initially. The rest of the field was left to compete for positions three and lower.

Norris was the first of the two McLarens out for the crucial final run, but he struggled with precision throughout his lap. Piastri, following just behind, delivered a perfect lap to take pole by the largest margin between first and second place seen in any qualifying session so far this season.

“Oscar drove exceptionally well,” Norris commented. “The pace is definitely there; I just made a couple of minor errors.”

Piastri has exceeded pre-season expectations, where Norris was widely seen as McLaren`s main championship hopeful. The Australian has shown remarkable improvement this season.

Outperforming Norris in qualifying on Saturday gives Piastri a 5-4 head-to-head advantage for the season in Grand Prix qualifying. This result also means he has now qualified ahead of Norris more times this year than he did during their entire 2023 campaign.

Piastri, who found the Barcelona circuit challenging last year, expressed his delight: “I`m very pleased. It`s been a good weekend up to this point. We didn`t start ideally and faced some challenges, but we found more speed last night, and the car felt fantastic today. I also feel I managed to put in some strong laps.”

He added, “This was quite a difficult track for me 12 months ago, so to turn things around in the best way possible is a great result.”

With a forecast of continued high temperatures in Barcelona for Sunday`s race, tire management will be a critical factor for both McLaren drivers. However, Piastri has successfully reclaimed momentum after Norris` recent victory in Monaco.

Hamilton `Happy` Behind Verstappen, Russell

As has often been the case this season, Max Verstappen and George Russell were the closest competitors to the McLarens in qualifying. Yet, even these strong qualifiers couldn`t prevent McLaren`s one-two.

Verstappen, who trails Piastri by 25 points in the championship, remains the primary threat to McLaren. His win at Imola, the first race of this triple-header, demonstrated his ability to seize even the slightest opportunity, particularly on the opening lap.

“We`ve been somewhat lacking compared to them [McLaren] throughout the weekend,” Verstappen commented. “We executed our qualifying well. Third is roughly where we expected to be. It`s enjoyable; here, it`s all about extracting the absolute maximum from the car.”

He added, “I will give my utmost in the race, but they [McLaren] will be difficult opponents.”

Mercedes typically sees their performance drop slightly between qualifying and the race, which could potentially leave Russell vulnerable to Lewis Hamilton`s Ferrari starting just behind him.

Speaking to the media, Russell said, “We are aware that our car is quick on Saturdays. We are working hard to ensure it`s also competitive on Sunday.”

“Based on what we`ve observed,” he continued, “it will likely be a challenging race, perhaps similar to Bahrain, with significant tire overheating and a probable two-stop strategy. We saw McLaren`s strength there.”

Lewis Hamilton`s initial phase with Ferrari following his high-profile switch from Mercedes has been somewhat underwhelming. However, his fifth-place starting position on Sunday matches his best grid spot of the season for a Grand Prix.

The seven-time world champion expressed frustration on Friday, calling the SF-25 “not driveable.” However, he was in a much more positive mood after qualifying ahead of his teammate Leclerc, achieving this feat for only the second time in the last 15 races dating back to last season.

Hamilton commented, “We made improvements for today, and the car was significantly easier and more pleasant to drive. We definitely improved our qualifying performance to reach Q3 and secure a spot in the top five. I`m very pleased with that result.”

Spanish GP Qualifying Results

Spanish GP Weekend Schedule

Sunday June 1:

7:25 am: F3 Feature Race

8:55 am: F2 Feature Race

12:30 pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Spanish GP build-up

2:00 pm: The SPANISH GRAND PRIX

4:00 pm: Chequered Flag: Spanish GP reaction