[ad_1]
Lando Norris defeated Max Verstappen in a thrilling Formula 1 pole battle at the Spanish Grand Prix, clinching pole on Sunday’s grid by 0.020 seconds to secure his second ever Formula 1 pole.
Verstappen appeared to have a decisive advantage over his rivals after comfortably leading Q2 and then taking the lead in the early stages of Q3 despite not matching his time in Q2.
But while Verstappen took an extra two tenths in his second round, Norris found four, depriving the Dutch championship leader of his and McLaren’s first pole position in the first Grand Prix since 2021.
After qualifying he described it as the best lap of his Formula 1 career to date.
Three-tenths behind them, Lewis Hamilton reversed his recent trend of qualifying defeats to Mercedes team-mate George Russell, albeit by just 0.002 seconds – with Russell running in tow throughout Q3 and contesting Hamilton’s strategy on the first round’s prep lap. .
It was ultimately a disappointing display for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc escaping a penalty for contact with Norris in FP3 – 0.005 seconds ahead of Carlos Sainz but just short of the Mercedes duo.
It meant Ferrari locked down the third row, followed by the surprise qualifying pack – the Alpines led by Pierre Gasly.
In seventh place, Gasly was only a tenth and a half behind third, as he overtook teammate Esteban Ocon for the third week in a row, although Ocon also reached Q3.
Sergio Pérez’s second Red Bull was far behind Verstappen throughout qualifying, and ended up with a best lap six tenths slower.
He beat Ocon to finish eighth, but would drop to 11th on the grid thanks to a grid penalty for driving a “damaged car” to the pits during the Canadian Grand Prix.
Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, finished last in Q3 and will start ninth. Piastri’s first lap was deleted due to track limits – but that lap would have been 10th fastest in Q3 anyway – before he spun on his final attempt while catching on the gravel exiting Turn 12.
Sainz’s teammate, local hero Fernando Alonso, was 0.019 seconds away from reaching the final segment. He will start from tenth position thanks to Perez’s grid penalty.
Instead, Perez will be joined on the sixth row by Valtteri Bottas – whose Sauber team not only exited Q1 for the first time since China, but did so with both cars.
But his teammate Zhou Guanyu was last in Q2, half a second behind Bottas and with the likes of Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) and Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) separating them.
Kevin Magnussen was quickest of those exiting Q1, eight tenths off the section pace and half a tenth off the pace – while also giving team-mate Hulkenberg a small pat on the back straight after the latter’s efforts in securing Q2.
Team RB, which reached Q3 with both cars in recent qualifying in Canada, was completely eliminated in the opening segment.
Yuki Tsunoda led teammate Daniel Ricciardo by two tenths, but that was only good enough for 17th, as Tsunoda met the news over the team radio that he had missed the cut in disbelief.
However, RB were at least more solid than Williams, another team that dropped sharply compared to Canada – with lead driver Alex Albon nowhere close to threatening second place despite beating Logan Sargent by three tenths in the battle to avoid last place on the grid. .
“It’s been a painful weekend, guys. I’m doing my best,” Sargent told the team after wrapping up his run. He is also under investigation for a possible impediment at Turn 10.
[ad_2]
Source
