Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying: 100 for Lewis Hamilton

Unusual, the qualifying session did not start on time but with a 10-minute delay. The reason? The replacement of a damaged safety barrier at turn 9 during the Alpine Regional Formula race.

Q1: Yuki Tsunoda by seven thousandths.

When the session was finally able to start, the surprise came from the Mercedes, which immediately mounted medium tires while all the other drivers had the traditional softs.

This did not prevent Valtteri Bottas from setting the best time of this first part of the session, ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, while Pierre Gasly took a nice third place on his first attempt.

On the other hand, the initial underperformance came from Lando Norris, only 13th, due to heavy traffic in the final chicane, notably with Nikita Mazepin’s Haas. Everyone up to Lewis Hamilton in sixth place was thus forced to regroup for one last attempt.

It has turned the hierarchy upside down, with Lando Norris notably setting the fastest time of the session. But the big loser of this Q1 was Yuki Tsunoda as the Japanese driver got caught out and had to settle for 16th place, just seven thousandths away from Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo. The Italian once again outperformed his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, who finished only 17th. George Russell managed to make it into Q2 once again. It was quite impressive to see that there was only half a second separating Valtteri Bottas’ second place from Yuki Tsunoda’s 16th place.

The eliminated drivers from Q1 were therefore: Tsunoda, Räikkönen, Schumacher, Latifi, Mazepin.

Q2: Lance Stroll for eight thousandths.

For this second session, the Mercedes this time made the opposite choice, with the soft tires. But it was Max Verstappen who sent a strong message to the competition, relegating the Mercedes to four and seven tenths, on equivalent tires! Sergio Perez found himself rejected at 1.1 seconds and was only 12th after this first attempt.

During the second attempt, the Mercedes once again came out on soft tires and improved their times but not enough to dislodge the Red Bull Dutchman. Sergio Perez managed to climb back up in the rankings, to a more worthy position for his car (fifth).

The good surprise came from the Alpine team, which classified both its drivers in the top 10 while they had been lagging behind since the beginning of the weekend. One person’s happiness inevitably brings about another’s misfortune. Among the losing team, we find Aston Martin, as Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel could not do better than 12th and 14th. Similarly, Pierre Gasly had to end his good streak in Q3, being sandwiched between the two Aston Martins.

The eliminaries from Q2 were therefore: Stroll, Gasly, Vettel, Giovinazzi, and Russell.

Q3: Lewis Hamilton when it matters.

The show was splendid between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. During the first attempt, it was the British driver who took the lead, by just 36 milliseconds! The impressive performance came from Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, who slipped into fourth place by outpacing his teammate by nine tenths. On the other hand, Sergio Perez once again made a mistake, spinning before entering the final chicane. In his only attempt, he could not do better than eighth.

The stage was set for the final fireworks display but it fell flat as almost no one improved during this last attempt, with the notable exception of Charles Leclerc, who climbed back to fourth place.

But Daniel Ricciardo was caught out and couldn’t defend his sixth place from the first attempt as he crossed the starting line just after the red lights appeared. McLaren may be disappointed as the Australian ultimately finished seventh and Lando Norris only ninth.