Spanish GP - Qualifying

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Aramco Spanish GP

Qualifying

June 22, 2024 

McLaren's Lando Norris beats Max Verstappen to pole at Spanish GP

BARCELONA, Spain - Just hours after a fire broke out at McLaren's hospitality suite at the Circuit de Catalunya, Lando Norris secured a sensational pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Norris clocked the fastest lap with a time of 1:11.383, narrowly beating the championship leader, Max Verstappen, by a mere 0.020 seconds—a margin so small it was almost imperceptible.

After clinching pole, Norris celebrated over the team radio, exclaiming, "Let's f------ go baby,"

The day for McLaren began dramatically when their hospitality unit was evacuated due to a fire that erupted just before the final practice session was about to commence.

One McLaren employee was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but the team’s participation in the on-track activities, including practice and qualifying, continued without any disruption.

Despite starting the final run a few tenths of a second behind, Norris managed to pull off a remarkable turnaround. The last time McLaren achieved pole position at Barcelona was in 2005 with Kimi Raikkonen.

The 24-year-old British driver reflected on his performance, stating "It was pretty much a perfect lap, you know when you're on a good lap when you're getting excited, the whole thing went perfectly in the end but close still.

He added, "Super, super happy. I'd say that's my best pole position --I haven't had many but that's my best. It's been close all weekend and really this was just about a perfect lap and that I did today. It was cool with the fans and my supporters here are amazing and a big thanks to everyone for cheering me up."

When asked about McLaren’s improved pace, Norris explained, "Since Miami we've been very strong and we probably missed out on a pole by just not doing a perfect lap and today was that. I would say Max and Red Bull seemed a little bit stronger all weekend than we did but we made some changes for the final run and I had some places to improve on and I'm super happy to be on pole."

Verstappen, who seemed poised to secure an easy pole position after ramping up his speed in Q2 and Q3, was unexpectedly overtaken by Norris' final effort.

Despite this, Verstappen still finished 0.3 seconds ahead of his 2021 title rival, Lewis Hamilton, who led a Mercedes duo to secure the second row.

Reflecting on his performance, Verstappen said, "In qualifying it was all coming together a bit nicer. The whole weekend we've been trying to find a bit of a connected balance because in all the practice sessions it was very difficult so I was quite happy in qualifying. Even in Q2 I had a nice little tow from Checo to Turn One to extract everything we could... unfortunately it just wasn't enough, but that's just how it goes sometimes.

"We can be very happy with this performance in qualifying and it's all to play for tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Hamilton expressed satisfaction with his lap, saying, "I'm really happy - thank you everyone, I'm so happy to be here, and super grateful to be in the top three, it's been quite a difficult year and a huge amount of work from everyone back at the factory and finally we are starting to see those incremental steps and we've been closer to the guys ahead.

"I didn't expect us to be fighting for pole necessarily but every now and then it looked close and to be there.

"We've made huge steps forward ... slowly the car is crafting into a racing machine that hopefully we can fight the guys at the front."

Mercedes, who came close to winning last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, will be buoyed by their return to a competitive position.

Ferrari, on the other hand, had a less satisfying outcome, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz qualifying in fifth and sixth, just behind the Mercedes duo.

Both Mercedes and Ferrari will aim for a strong performance in Sunday’s race, especially with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, starting in eighth position.

Alpine surprised everyone by getting both their cars into Q3, marking a significant improvement for the team.

With Flavio Briatore recently appointed as executive advisor, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon qualified in seventh and ninth, respectively.

Alpine has only managed to score two points this season so far, but the team will be eager to capitalize on this strong qualifying result to secure more points in the race.

Oscar Piastri, Norris' teammate, was unable to match his colleague's outstanding performance. The Australian driver had his first lap time deleted for exceeding track limits, and after running wide on his second attempt, he aborted the lap, ultimately placing him 10th on the starting grid.

Starting just behind Piastri will be Fernando Alonso, who failed to advance into Q3 at his home race in Spain.

Apart from Alpine’s unexpected surge in performance, there were no other major surprises in the first two qualifying sessions. Teams like Aston Martin, Haas, Sauber, RB, and Williams did not make it into the final shootout.

It was a particularly difficult session for RB, with drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo ending up on the penultimate row of the grid.

Williams drivers Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant finished at the back, with Sargeant facing an additional setback.

Sargeant, who is unlikely to remain with the team next season, received a three-place grid penalty for obstructing Lance Stroll, despite ending the session in P20. The American driver was 0.356 seconds behind Albon, a gap that covered the span from first to eighth in Q1.1.

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Spanish GP 2024 Qualifying Results

Disqualified from Q1

16.  Kevin Magnussen, Haas (1:12.937)

17. Yuki Tsunoda, RB (1:12.985)

18. Daniel Ricciardo, RB (1:13.075)

19. Logan Sargeant, Williams (1:13.509)

20. Alexander Albon, Williams (1:13.153)

Disqualified from Q2

11. Sergio Pérez, Red Bull (1:12.061)

12. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber (1:12.227)

13. Nico Hülkenberg, Haas (1:12.310)

14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (:12.372)

15. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber (1:12.738)

Top 10 Qualifying from Spanish GP 2024

1. Lando Norris, McLaren (1:11.383)

2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull (1:11.403)

3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (1:11.701)

4. George Russell, Mercedes (1:11.703)

5. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (1:11.731)

6. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari (1:11.736)

7. Pierre Gasly, Alpine (1:11.857)

8. Esteban Ocon, Alpine (1:12.125)

9. Oscar Piastri, McLaren (--)

10. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (1:12.128)