Event: Spanish Grand Prix
Track: Catalunya Circuit
Weather: dry 29°C
Tarmac: dry 47°C
Humidity: 37%
Wind: 3.9 km/h South West
Oscar Piastri qualified as quickest for the 4th time today. The McLaren driver scored his maiden pole position for tomorrow's 2025 Spanish Grand Prix. It was also the fourth pole of the season for the Australian driver and the the 170th pole for McLaren.
Piastri Takes Stunning Pole in Scorching Spanish Qualifying Showdown
The Mediterranean heat wasn’t the only thing sizzling this Saturday in Montmeló. Oscar Piastri delivered a near-flawless performance to snatch pole position for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, outpacing McLaren teammate Lando Norris and delivering a knockout blow to Red Bull and Mercedes. But the story of qualifying wasn't just about the front row—this one had drama from Q1 to the final flag.
Q1: Colapinto Crumbles, Sainz Stuns for the Wrong Reasons
Qualifying kicked off with high tension and even higher track temperatures, hovering around 47°C. Local hero Fernando Alonso had the home fans on their feet early, while Franco Colapinto, another Spanish-speaking fan favourite, was causing a traffic jam in the pit lane. The Alpine driver suffered a bizarre car issue right at pit exit, leading to chaos and ultimately a Q1 exit.
Carlos Sainz’s qualifying nightmare continued as he failed to escape the first segment—an embarrassing early bath at his home race. Tsunoda brought up the rear, while Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Ocon also bowed out early. Bortoleto’s last-gasp flyer showed promise, dragging his car into Q2 with a big lap. It would be his peak.
Q1 Eliminations:
16. Hulkenberg
17. Ocon
18. Sainz
19. Colapinto
20. Tsunoda
Q2: Tight Margins and Heartbreak for Bearman & Albon
As the second segment unfolded, the top dogs were still lurking in the garages, conserving rubber while the midfield scrap heated up. Norris and Piastri looked menacing, punching in laps comfortably clear of the field. Behind them, it was all elbows out.
Lance Stroll couldn’t find the pace, Ollie Bearman had no fresh tyres left, and Alex Albon was heartbreakingly close to Q3, missing out by just a sliver. Gasly, Alonso, and rookie sensation Isack Hadjar pulled clutch laps to sneak into the top 10.
Q2 Eliminations:
11. Albon
12. Bortoleto
13. Lawson
14. Stroll
15. Bearman
Q3: McLaren Dominate, Verstappen & Russell Tie in Bizarre Twist
Then came the final shootout—and what a shootout it was.
Oscar Piastri, already fastest in FP2 and FP3, came out swinging. He threw down a stunning 1m11.836s on his first run, then improved again, dipping further into the 1m11s. Lando Norris responded with everything he had but couldn’t hook up his lap cleanly and fell two-tenths short.
But the real eyebrow-raiser? Max Verstappen and George Russell set the exact same lap time: 1:11.848. Verstappen edged Russell to third on the grid only because he crossed the line first. Talk about splitting atoms.
Hamilton looked punchy to go fifth, with teenage phenom Andrea Kimi Antonelli showing real maturity to take sixth. Leclerc wound up seventh in a quiet but respectable session for Ferrari. Gasly, Hadjar and Alonso completed the top 10, giving the home crowd something to cheer about.
A Two-Stop Thriller Incoming?
With track temperatures dropping late in the session and a possible two-stop strategy on the cards, Sunday’s Grand Prix is shaping up to be a tactical showdown. Can Piastri convert pole into a win and stretch his championship lead? Will Norris nail the launch down to Turn 1? And what about Verstappen, who’s made a habit of turning quiet Saturdays into ferocious Sundays?
One thing is clear: McLaren are the team to beat. But with Mercedes lurking and Red Bull unpredictable, don’t blink.
Tomorrow’s race might just have it all.
Quali Times 2024 Spanish F1 GP
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1:12.551 | 1:11.998 | 1:11.546 | 14 |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:12.799 | 1:12.056 | 1:11.755 | 15 |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:12.798 | 1:12.358 | 1:11.848 | 12 |
| 4 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:12.806 | 1:12.407 | 1:11.848 | 12 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 1:13.058 | 1:12.447 | 1:12.045 | 15 |
| 6 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 1:12.815 | 1:12.585 | 1:12.111 | 18 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:13.014 | 1:12.495 | 1:12.131 | 12 |
| 8 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 1:13.081 | 1:12.611 | 1:12.199 | 18 |
| 9 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 1:13.139 | 1:12.461 | 1:12.252 | 15 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1:13.102 | 1:12.523 | 1:12.284 | 14 |
| 11 | 23 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1:13.044 | 1:12.641 | 14 | |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 1:13.045 | 1:12.756 | 12 | |
| 13 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 1:13.039 | 1:12.763 | 12 | |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 1:13.038 | 1:13.058 | 15 | |
| 15 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 1:13.074 | 1:13.315 | 15 | |
| 16 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg | Sauber | 1:13.190 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 1:13.201 | 9 | ||
| 18 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 1:13.203 | 6 | ||
| 19 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 1:13.334 | 7 | ||
| 20 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | 1:13.385 | 6 |
The quickest sector times during this qualifying session were:
- Sector 1: 21.259 sec by Oscar Piastri with the McLaren MCL39.
- Sector 2: 29.580 sec by Oscar Piastri with the McLaren MCL39.
- Sector 3: 21.680 sec by Max Verstappen with the Red Bull RB21.
Last year the quickest lap time of qualifying was a 1:11.383 min, driven by Lando Norris with the McLaren MCL38.
✅ Check out our 2025 Spanish F1 Grand Prix Preview.
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
A nice comeback by Piastri after that Cheeky tow attempt.
Hamilton was this qualifying's positive surprise & Alonso was also decent, while Tsunoda was the biggest flop by qualifying dead last, which reminded me of Lawson in China.
Something is clearly wrong or went wrong for him over this triple-header & the heavy crash in Imola can't be the sole contributor, even though he's still on older spec parts because of that.
He's likely outbound with Honda after the season, so he doesn't have much to lose, but his lack of pace is still unpleasant.
I wouldn't be surprised if he also finishes last in the race on pure pace.
Albon's claim about Bearman & Haas is most likely unfounded, not to mention an excessively strong accusation, given Bearman was fully offline at that point anyway, so Albon unnecessarily easily let his concentration be affected by Bearman's presence, & I also have doubts about the dirty air effect, considering Bearman was far into that corner by the time Albon started to turn nor did he even seemingly need to brake or otherwise reduce speed as a reactionary action.
And Max got the best out of the Red bull again
Red bull put Max in a very embarrassing position by putting hard tyres on behind a safety car which made him vulnerable to the young wolves behind ready to pounce on Max like he was a wounded animal who defended himself as best as he could & spoke to the press whereas Horner preferred not tocommt, at least Piastry wiped the smirk off Lando face.
To be brilliant you must also be flawed, never dull when Max is racing
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.