George Russell took pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with team-mate Lewis Hamilton denying Mercedes a one-two on the front row.
It was a mixed qualifying for Ferrari: Hamilton secured a front-row start, but Charles Leclerc crashed out in Q3 and will start tenth after failing to set a time.
Q1
The opening phase of qualifying brought little drama as drivers worked to extract the maximum from their tyres on a track surface above 50°C while managing high minimum tyre pressures. Leclerc briefly led before Andrea Kimi Antonelli showed Mercedes’ pace by posting a time within a hundredth of Leclerc’s effort. George Russell then moved to the top, only for Hamilton to edge ahead with a 1’15.625.
Race control displayed the black-and-white flag to Hamilton for driving unnecessarily slowly before his lap. Only half the field returned for a final push in Q1; Nico Hulkenberg was the sole Audi to reappear and climbed impressively to fifth.
After the final runs, the bottom six remained unchanged. Esteban Ocon and Alexander Albon were among those eliminated, alongside the Cadillacs and Aston Martins. A notable upset saw Lance Stroll narrowly out-qualify Fernando Alonso, the first time in 42 grands prix that Stroll had beaten his team-mate.
Q1 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’15.625 | |
| 2 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’15.717 | 0.092 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’15.964 | 0.339 |
| 4 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’15.977 | 0.352 |
| 5 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’16.066 | 0.441 |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’16.138 | 0.513 |
| 7 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’16.287 | 0.662 |
| 8 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’16.352 | 0.727 |
| 9 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’16.425 | 0.800 |
| 10 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’16.427 | 0.802 |
| 11 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’16.571 | 0.946 |
| 12 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’16.590 | 0.965 |
| 13 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’16.599 | 0.974 |
| 14 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’16.616 | 0.991 |
| 15 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’16.673 | 1.048 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’16.881 | 1.256 |
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’17.073 | 1.448 |
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’17.424 | 1.799 |
| 19 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’17.545 | 1.920 |
| 20 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac-Ferrari | MAC-26 | 1’17.757 | 2.132 |
| 21 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’18.758 | 3.133 |
| 22 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin-Honda | AMR26 | 1’18.815 | 3.190 |
Q2
Russell set the pace in Q2 and kept the top spot despite strong pressure from Ferrari and other rivals. Leclerc and Antonelli were both within a tenth of his best time. Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull filled the top six after the first runs and elected not to risk another set of tyres, saving them for the race.
McLaren were under pressure early: both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri found themselves behind Arvid Lindblad and needed a second run. They improved on fresh rubber and progressed, but used an extra tyre set to do so. Lindblad could not improve on his second attempt and was eliminated in 11th.
Nico Hulkenberg endured a nervy session after losing a time for exceeding track limits at turn nine and receiving a warning for driving unnecessarily slowly, but he scraped through in tenth, narrowly ahead of Lindblad. The other drivers eliminated in Q2 included Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz Jnr and the two Alpine cars.
Q2 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’15.228 | |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’15.281 | 0.053 |
| 3 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’15.295 | 0.067 |
| 4 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’15.361 | 0.133 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’15.418 | 0.190 |
| 6 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’15.484 | 0.256 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’15.518 | 0.290 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’15.585 | 0.357 |
| 9 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’15.754 | 0.526 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’15.768 | 0.540 |
| 11 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’15.840 | 0.612 |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | R26 | 1’16.001 | 0.773 |
| 13 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’16.191 | 0.963 |
| 14 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Mercedes | A526 | 1’16.261 | 1.033 |
| 15 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | VF-26 | 1’16.389 | 1.161 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Williams-Mercedes | FW48 | 1’17.827 | 2.599 |
Q3
In the final shootout, Max Verstappen posted the first time but was quickly beaten by Oscar Piastri, who improved on his Q2 recovery. Hamilton and Norris were both on promising laps when a red flag stopped the session.
Leclerc ran wide at the exit of turn four, lost control and hit the barrier nose-first. He exited the car uninjured, but his crash brought out the red flags and ended his chance to set a competitive lap.
With around eight-and-a-half minutes remaining, several drivers returned to the track on used tyres. Russell, even on older rubber, improved on Piastri’s time with a 1’15.145, though he was shown a warning for driving unnecessarily slowly earlier in the lap. Antonelli briefly took provisional pole after fitting fresh tyres, posting a 1’14.998, but Russell responded strongly.
Russell produced a dominant final effort, beating Antonelli in every sector to record a 1’14.679. Verstappen and Hamilton pushed hard: Verstappen ran a fast first sector but could not sustain the pace, while Hamilton produced a very quick middle sector and ultimately displaced Antonelli to take second on the grid, 0.064s behind Russell.
Q3 result
| P. | # | Driver | Team | Model | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | W17 | 1’14.679 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | SF-26 | 1’14.743 | 0.064 |
| 3 | 12 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | W17 | 1’14.998 | 0.319 |
| 4 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’15.001 | 0.322 |
| 5 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’15.021 | 0.342 |
| 6 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull-Red Bull-Ford | RB22 | 1’15.077 | 0.398 |
| 7 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | MCL40 | 1’15.090 | 0.411 |
| 8 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Red Bull-Ford | 03 | 1’16.542 | 1.863 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | R26 | 1’16.657 | 1.978 |
| 10 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | SF-26 | No time |
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