The McLaren driver took pole by the finest of margins on Saturday in Barcelona.
Patrick Iversen, Alex Davies and more
Lando Norris in Barcelona. (Getty Images)
A proper fight on the cards tomorrow
THOMAS COEX/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
We’re still waiting for the first true fight between Norris and Verstappen, and tomorrow might well be the day. It will be fascinating to see them on the long run down to the first corner, particularly with the two Mercedes lurking behind.
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Time: 9 a.m. ET / 2 p.m. BST
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It had to be Lando, didn't it?
After the day McLaren had, it really had to be Norris for pole, didn't it? Stunning lap at the end of Q3 to pip Verstappen. Hugely close and exciting session. Bodes for a very exciting race tomorrow!
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Lando Norris nabs pole!
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What a mega lap!
Oscar Piastri goes off!
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Into the gravel but back onto the track. He's going to start P10. He looked very hesitant on the throttle that lap, anyway.
Here they come
Everyone filters out for their final laps.
Russell isn't happy with Hamilton
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
That's some punchy radio from Russell, who questions what Hamilton was doing on his out lap (in a far less polite way than that). His engineer tells him they'll talk about it afterward. They're P3 and P4 right now.
Provisional pole for Max Verstappen
Max Verstappen was slower on that lap than his Q2 lap, yet it's still enough for provisional pole after the first runs by over a tenth of a second. Norris, Hamilton, and Russell ran close but couldn't smash the final sector like Verstappen did. The Ferraris are down in P5 and P6 right now. Tense qualifying!
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Verstappen to the top early
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Norris is charging, but can't quite get there.
Q3 underway
And Pérez is the first one out there. Whole track to himself. And as I write that, he passes a McLaren. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
A critical session for Sergio Pérez
Thomas COEX / POOL / AFP
The Red Bull driver is facing a three-place grid penalty, which makes this Q3 session that much more important for Perez. He described qualifying as "super crucial," adding, "With the lack of overtaking around this place, it's going to be very important to be able to qualify well, to be able to get into a good position on Sunday.”
This fight for pole is so tough to predict
(Thomas COEX / POOL / AFP)
Seriously, there are such fine margins between the leading four teams going into Q3 that it's tough to say who'll be on pole, but I'm going to try. Verstappen's step from Q1 to Q2 is a sign he'll be the man to beat at the end of this session.
Checo into Q3
Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
For the first time since Miami at the start of May. Pérez has been struggling of late, but a good run in Q3 could help him get back to his proper role, helping Red Bull in the constructors’ championship rather than letting Verstappen do it all himself.
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Alonso knocked out in Q2 on home soil
Oof, that's not the homecoming that Fernando Alonso would have wanted. Knocked out in Q2 with P11 for Aston Martin. Teammate Lance Stroll is two-tenths further back in 14th, and both Alpines are through to Q3!
Hamilton out of trouble after a tricky first run
That's a good lap from Lewis Hamilton to go P2 for Mercedes. Safely through to Q3 after struggling on his first run.
Drop zone
Peter Fox/Getty Images
Under threat with five minutes left:
- Bottas
- Alonso
- Hamilton
- Stroll
- Zhou
That feels like a step from Verstappen
Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
It's only the first runs of Q2, and we saw how quickly P1 changed hands there – literally all the top five were P1 at one stage – but for Verstappen to find two-tenths and already be seven-tenths up on his Q1 lap is impressive. Let's see how much more he has to find.
Here come the heavy-hitters
Shortly after Gasly tops the charts, the Ferraris, McLarens and Max Verstappen roll through and lead the field. Doesn't take anything away from Gasly, though – he's enjoying a solid weekend and is a threat to make it into Q3.
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Stroll finishes a lap by himself
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Funny – when he was mad at Lewis Hamilton in FP3, he complained that the Mercedes driver thought he had the whole track to himself. Now Stroll literally had the entire track to himself to start Q3. To quote George Lucas, "It's like poetry. They rhyme."
Anyway, here comes the cavalry as everyone filters out.
A Lewis Hamilton pole still feels very possible
Peter Fox/Getty Images
He's been one of the favorites ever since he lit up FP2 on Friday and topped Q1 just now. You can't ever rule out Verstappen pulling a rabbit out of his hat, but Hamilton still looks like a guy to beat.
Anyhow, Q2 is now underway!
A tough qualifying for Williams
Williams always expected to struggle in Barcelona, but placing P19 and P20 is really not good. Albon and Sargeant finally have equal cars, yet Sargeant was still over three-tenths back from Albon, who went earlier with his final run.
Both RBs out is a big surprise. Tsunoda was shocked on the radio when he was told that he'd been eliminated in 17th, just ahead of Ricciardo. Kevin Magnussen also lagged behind his teammate quite a bit to be knocked out. For all the buzz around the updates and talk of a challenge to Aston Martin, it's not been in a good spot.
Sauber and Alpine will probably consider that a good step in getting their cars through. Q3 might be a trickier step for both teams, but at least they'll be on the points fringes going into tomorrow.
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