Spanish Grand Prix – Max Verstappen might’ve been an unsurprising polesitter but it was a drama-filled qualifying session with lots of thrills and spills.
Q1
After a wet final practice it was looking like qualifying might start dry but a few spits of rain did start a few minutes before the session. Cars were lined up at the end of the pit lane waiting for the green light to signal the start of Q1.
Yuki Tsunoda locked up and spun on his out lap, flat spotting his tyres so he had to pit for a fresh set. George Russell was the first to set a time, a 1:15.735 on the softs.
Qualifying Results – 2023 Spanish Grand Prix
The Red Flag was flown with 14 minutes on the clock when Valtteri Bottas spun at the same corner as Tsunoda did but the Alfa Romeo driver was quick to get going again, so the flag seemed to be quite premature, unless it was for another, unspecified reason. The FIA later stated it was for gravel on track.
Tsunoda and Bottas weren’t the only ones having an interesting start to their session, Nyck de Vries doing a 360 spin at the same corner as his teammate while Fernando Alonso went for a trip through the gravel at the final turn, while Alex Albon went through the T5 gravel. At that stage only seven drivers had set times and it was Pierre Gasly who was fastest of them with a 1:14.618, two tenths ahead of his Alpine teammate.
The Alfa Romeo drivers were the first out when the session restarted and by the time they finished their out lap all teams apart from Williams and Mercedes had their cars on track. There was a close call between Carlos Sainz and Gasly when the French driver got out of the way for Charles Leclerc but had probably only been told one fast Ferrari was behind him and moved back onto the racing line causing Sainz to have to slam on the brakes to avoid contact.
De Vries meanwhile was not having a great time, once again going for a spin at T11, this time backwards through the grass, and asking his team “what am I doing wrong here?”.
With five minutes to go Max Verstappen had set the best time, a 1:13.615, less than a tenth ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri while Lewis Hamilton was three tenths further back in P3 while hile Sergio Perez, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Albon and Sargeant were in the bottom five positions.
Everything changed in the final few minutes, the track getting faster and faster. And while Leclerc was able to move himself to P11 those behind him did better and so he ended P19, 1.142 seconds off the best time. That best time was a 1:12.937, the only sub 1:13 lap of the day so far, and it was from Hamilton.
The Mercedes driver ended over three and a half seconds ahead of Lando Norris and Russell. Along with Leclerc, the others that wouldn’t be continuing were Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Albon and Sargeant.
While Gasly made it though to Q2 he didn’t have a smooth time of it having impeded Sainz earlier and then at the end of the session did the same to Verstappen, an incident that not only the reigning champion complained about but Alonso also reported it and made his decision on the penalty known: “big impeding on the Alpine on the out lap to Verstappen. Massive one, I mean into turn 4. That will be three places.” Apparently Gasly did see Verstappen and asked his team if he was on a fast lap but didn’t get an answer.
Q2
The Red Bulls were the first to head out as the second part of the session got underway and Verstappen started off quick with a 1:12.760 and after ten minutes, as the track went quiet as everyone returned to the pits, he still held the place,0.239 seconds ahead of Hamilton while Alonso was another 0.279 seconds back in P3. The two McLarens, the two AlphaTauris and Nico Hulkenberg were in the drop zone at that stage.
Perez went through the gravel at T5 but was able to keep going and there was enough time for him to get to the line before the chequered flag and get a final fast lap but he wasn’t able to improve and ended P11. Russell along with Zhou Guanyu, de Vries and Tsunoda joined Perez in the drop zone.
It ended with Verstappen’s earlier lap ensuring he ended in P1 but it was close with Norris only 0.016 off with Sainz just less than that behind him. The two Mercedes clashed towards the end of the session, Hamilton went down the outside of his teammate on the run to T1 but Russell didn’t seem to notice him and was moving out of the way of a Ferrari that was ahead of him and squished his teammate onto the grass as bits of front wing got thrown in the air.
Q3
Piastri was the first on track and set a 1:13.772 while Hulkenberg and Alonso remained in the pits. The Haas racer seemingly only had enough tyres for one run while Aston Martin worked on the Spaniard’s floor.
Hulkenberg emerged to a quiet track as the others headed back to the pits to prepare for their final runs. At that point Verstappen’s 1:12.272 was the time to beat, Hamilton over nine tenths back in P2 and Norris a further three and a half off in P3 though he was demoted by the Haas racer who got to within 0.033 seconds of the second placed Mercedes.
Hulkenberg returned to the pits to watch the last few minutes of the session while Alonso did get out to put a time in but wasn’t able to challenge. While Verstappen didn’t even need to complete his final flyer to secure the pole but behind him was all change and it ended with Sainz in P2, 0.462 seconds off, while Norris, who’d been putting in great laps all session, took P3, half a tenth behind in the McLaren.
Gasly took P4 but he is being investigated for impeding though the session. Hamilton slotted into P5 ahead of Stroll while Ocon finished in P7. Hulkenberg’s early P3 effort was only good enough for P8 as the others improved and he will start ahead of Alonso and Piastri.
