Verstappen storms to pole ahead of Sainz and Norris in dramatic qualifying
As he has been all weekend so far in Barcelona, Verstappen was untouchable in qualifying as he claimed his fourth pole of the season by 0.462s ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
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McLaren’s Lando Norris was a surprise third thanks to a stunning lap that put him ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Lewis Hamilton, who survived a collision with Mercedes teammate George Russell to claim fifth.
Lance Stroll was sixth-fastest for Aston Martin ahead of Esteban Ocon’s Alpine and Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg.
Home hero Fernando Alonso could only manage a time good enough for ninth on the grid in his Aston Martin, while Oscar Piastri completed the top-10 to round out a great day for McLaren.
For the second weekend in a row, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez endured a miserable qualifying and was dumped out of Q2 in 11th.
Russell also had a difficult day that ended in a dramatic coming together with his teammate, leaving him only 12th on the grid.
It was a nightmare qualifying for last year’s pole-sitter Leclerc, who suffered a shock Q1 elimination.
The Monegasque had been complaining about the rear-end of his upgraded Ferrari throughout the opening session and ended up with the second-slowest time in 19th.
Leclerc will join Williams’ Logan Sargeant on the back row of the grid for Sunday’s grand prix.
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