Verstappen Earns A Front Row Start In Spain
Red Bull Racing will start with one car on the front row but the other a little further back after a qualifying session decided by fine margins in Barcelona.
In a slightly chaotic first part of qualifying that saw a number of traffic issues at the final chicane, Yuki was unfortunate to drop out by just 0.007s as he ended up 16th on the grid after running slightly wide into the gravel on his final attempt. The other three cars all safely advanced in the top six, with Pierre needing just one run to get through in the sister Scuderia AlphaTauri car.
Q2 started with Max setting a blistering pace and posting the fastest time overall by some distance, allowing him to wait in the garage and watch the rest of the field try to improve. Sergio was able to secure his safe passage but Pierre just missed out by 0.016s and will start from 12th place with a free choice of tyres.
Heading into Q3 it was a thrilling battle for pole position and Max put in an excellent first lap but was just 0.036s off the pace. On the final runs, most drivers struggled to improve and although Max came close to matching his time he couldn’t better it so will line-up second on the grid. Sergio had a trickier time of it in the final part of qualifying as he dipped a wheel into the gravel before turning in at Turn 13, causing him to spin and meaning he didn’t set a time. Needing to get a time on the board with his final lap in an extremely close session, Sergio ended up eighth on the grid as the track seemed slightly slower, although he was less than 0.2s away from the second row.