Pure Tension: The High-Stakes Game of Russian Roulette that decided Pole
It was time for qualifying in Barcelona. McLaren believes that Barcelona is their weekend, and they are much closer to Mercedes than in previous weekends. It was still very hot later on in the afternoon, which was proven by the 50-degree track temperatures. Ferrari was looking good too so far this weekend, sitting in third fastest overall. Hamilton struggled more than his teammate Leclerc, but recovered his pace in FP3. Surprisingly, Red Bull is sitting behind Ferrari this weekend. Verstappen has been the fastest of the two Bulls, but don’t count out Hadjar; he’s been pretty quick too this weekend. Even Racing Bulls are looking good this weekend.
Qualifying 1
Bottas led the way out of the pit lane after he beached his Cadillac in FP3. Both Haas cars were out next, and home favourite Sainz and teammate Albon followed suit, alongside the Aston Martins. Every single car out so far was on softs, and they started the first 18 minutes to decide tomorrow’s starting order. Tyre care would have had to have been the top priority in Q1 today, as the track temperature rose to 51.7 Degrees Celsius, combined with an air temperature of 30.5 Degrees.
Bottas set the first time with 14 minutes to go, putting a 1:19.105 up on the board. Ocon quickly beat that, and Bearman stole that top spot almost immediately after. Haas had opted for the medium tyres for their banker laps. The soft tyres werent doing well in the heat, being completely destroyed after one lap. Many more were making their way out on track with 12 minutes left of the first part of Qualifying, including both Alpines, Leclerc and Hadjar. The Mercedes had also been released on the soft tyres.
Sainz topped the times at 10 minutes with a 1:18.107, with the Haas boys in second and third. Sainz has always had a strong pace at his home race, but of course, there are 2 Spanish Grands Prix this year with the introduction of Madrid. Sainz locked up and ran wide with 7 minutes left, as well as Stroll taking a trip into the gravel. Hamilton, who was complaining about having less power than he’d like, put his Ferrari on provisional pole with a 1:15.625.
The track fell silent with 5 minutes left on the clock as the cars returned to their garages to fit brand new tyres for one more push lap. A queue formed in the pit lane 2 minutes later to get out to do their final laps. The top 11 opted to stay in the pits as they believed they were safe to get into Q2.
The first part of Qualifying finished, and the drivers were fighting to climb the ranks, but alas, it was Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso who found themselves in the bottom 6 and out of Qualifying in Barcelona. On the other end of the timings, Lewis Hamilton would be leading the remaining 16 into Q2.
Qualifying 2
The next 15 minutes of Qualifying got underway with no movement in the pit lane. It was 3 minutes later when Oscar Piastri was the first out of the pit lane to try and get his place inside the Top 10 for Q3. Everybody followed soon after with the soft compound fitted. Gasly was the first to set the benchmark for Q2 with a 1:17.626. His teammate quickly topped that, and Hulkenberg after him, and then Verstappen came into play with a 1:15.484. The Ferraris still wanted to prove their dominance as he topped the times, but then Russell went faster than that.
Norris was reporting excessive rear locking as he slotted into 8th, his teammate and last year’s pole sitter down in 10th. Hulkenberg had his lap time deleted due to track limits, putting him down in 16th.
With 3 minutes to go, everyone bar the top 6 emerged from the garage to complete their final laps. Piastri was the first to set off on his lap, looking to get higher than 10th, but he only slotted into P6, meaning he wasn’t safe yet as Norris improved to 4th.
The time ticked down, and it was Lindblad, Bortoleto, Colapinto, Gasly, Bearman and Sainz who were knocked out. It was a surprise to see the Audi of Hulkenberg make it through, and maybe Audi had finally found their pace.
Qualifying 3
It was time for the final 12 minutes of Qualifying, and it was a top 10 shootout between 2 Mercedes, 2 Ferrari, 2 McLaren, 2 Red Bull, 1 Racing Bulls and 1 Audi. The main question everyone was asking was who could be fast enough to take that pole position for tomorrow's race.
It was once again the Red Bull of Max Verstappen who was the first out of the garages to cement his place within the top 10, and a mad dash followed from everyone else to get out. Both McLarens followed behind, along with Lawson, Leclerc, Hadjar, Hamilton and Hulkenberg. It was Verstappen who set the Q3 benchmark, but Piastri quickly topped that with a 1:15.176.
With 8 and a half minutes to go, just as Piastri crossed the line, the red flag was flown as Charles Leclerc went through the gravel between Turns 4 and 5, ploughing into the wall and shearing off the front wing. Luckily, he got out of the car and was seen walking away. Replays showed he started to lose the rear, tried to correct it, then the car gripped up, which resulted in an over-correction, and into the tyre barriers. Only two drivers, Verstappen and Piastri, managed to get times on the board before the crash, with the Australian in P1 and the Dutchman 0.152 seconds behind.
A queue formed at the end of the pit lane as a start time was decided, and it was Mercedes at the front of the pack, eager to get on track and set a time. The clock resumed, and the queue raced out of the garages to get their place on the board. Championship favourite Kimi Antonelli added his time first with a 1:15.414, and his teammate on provisional pole with a 1:15.145. Hadjar also slotted into third but was pushed down by the Mercedes into 5th.
Everybody who was out on track retreated into the pits to change their tyres, and with 3 minutes to go, everybody left the garages, led by Hulkenberg. It was provisional pole with 20 seconds to go, replaced by Russell as the clock hit zero.
It was inevitably George Russell who took pole position, with Lewis Hamilton missing out with just over half a tenth in second, and Kimi Antonelli in third.
Can Russell convert his pole into a win in tomorrow’s race?
