- Oscar Piastri finished in pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona
- The Australian denied McLaren’s Lando Norris a second succesive pole position
Oscar Piastri denied Lando Norris a second successive pole position with a dominant display in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Norris wanted to build on his win in Monaco a week ago but found the Australian too brisk at Circuit de Catalunya and could only manage the second quickest time in a McLaren one-two.
Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen was third best and George Russell, who set exactly the same time as the Dutchman but moments later, will start fourth for Mercedes, a place ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton.
It was Piastri’s fourth pole of the season. ‘Nice job,’ he said. It was a major blow to Norris, who was leading the charts after the first runs in Q3, having got a tow from Piastri. The Australian called the slipstreaming ‘cheeky’.
Final laugh to Piastri, though –his margin of more than two-tenths over the rest of the field the biggest of the season.
‘A couple of little mistakes,’ said Norris, who trails Piastri by three points in the championship.
Oscar Piastri denied Lando Norris a second successive pole position with a dominant display
Norris wanted to build on his win in Monaco a week ago but found the Australian too brisk
Hamilton can celebrate a good day for him – his first qualifying win over team-mate Leclerc
It was a major blow to Lando Norris, who was leading the charts after the first runs in Q3
Hamilton can celebrate a good day for him – his first qualifying win over team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was seventh quickest, since China.
Home favourite Carlos Sainz had a disappointing afternoon, qualifying a lowly 18th. Barcelona is not a track well suited to Williams, and so it proved in the Spaniard’s case, though Alex Albon managed a creditable 11th in the same machinery.
Haas’s British rookie Ollie Bearman progressed to Q2 but ended up 15th fastest.
