Max Verstappen takes pole position for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix; Carlos Sainz second, Lando Norris takes surprise third.
Max Verstappen took a convincing pole position for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix amid several stunning early exits in a wild Qualifying session.
The world championship leader maintained his dominant form to top the timesheet with a 1:12.272 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and was even able to abort his final flying lap with no other drivers capable of beating his fastest time in Q3.
Carlos Sainz will start his home Grand Prix on the front row for Ferrari, while Lando Norris took a surprise third for McLaren.
“The weekend has been enjoyable so far," said Verstappen after qualifying. “The car has been really performing well but of course we always try to find improvements here and there. Qualifying started off tricky, you needed to be on the track at the right time, not making any mistakes. Going into Q3 I knew there was good potential left in the car so I could finally push it to the limit. The first run was really quick, then of course we went out again for the second run, that would have been even better, but I was told to abort the lap to save the tyres. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’ll need to watch out for the tyre wear but going into that last corner brings a smile to my face because that’s where an F1 car really comes to life."
BARCELONA, SPAIN - JUNE 03: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive in the garage during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on June 03, 2023 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202306030368 // Usage for editorial use only //
Leclerc admitted that he struggled to simply keep his car pointing in the right direction when qualifying got under way and almost crashed on several occasions. The Last row start will test LeClerc as he now faces a tough recovery drive to salvage anything from Sunday’s race to keep pace with an increasingly tight top 2-5 in the drivers standings.
“I don’t have the answer for now," Leclerc said after qualifying. “The only thing I can say is that the left-hand corners were undriveable, and with the right-hand corners, the feeling was very similar to this morning. But there’s just something off in the left-hand corners that we need to analyze and understand, because it was very far off what I expected."
Spanish GP Qualifying Result
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull
- Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
- Lando Norris, McLaren
- Pierre Gasly, Alpine
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
- Esteban Ocon, Alpine
- Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren
BREAKING: Pierre Gasly has been given a six-place grid penalty for impeding Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz during qualifying#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JevJJhVbs8
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 3, 2023
Hamilton and Russell get too close for comfort in qualifying 👀#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/iNN0795E9p
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 3, 2023