Verstappen dominates Spanish GP qualifying, Leclerc out in Q1

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen continued his 2023 dominance, putting it on pole with the fastest time during Saturday’s qualifying at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ahead of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

It’s Verstappen’s first career pole position in Barcelona and his fourth of the year through seven races.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz will start alongside Verstappen in the front row after finishing nearly half a second slower than the championship leader.

POS.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:12.272
2	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	+0.456
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	+0.520
4	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	+0.544
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.546
6	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	+0.722
7	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	+0.811
8	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	+0.957
9	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	+1.235
10	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	+1.410
11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	Q2
12	George Russell	Mercedes	Q2
13	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	Q2
14	Nyck de Vries	AlphaTauri	Q2
15	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	Q2
16	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	Q1
17	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	Q1
18	Alex Albon	Williams	Q1
19	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	Q1
20	Logan Sargeant	Williams	Q1

Last year’s pole-sitter and Sainz’s teammate Charles Leclerc didn’t make it out of the first qualifying session and will start 19th on the grid. It’s the first time Leclerc hasn’t made it to Q3 since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix, ending a streak of 19 races. It’s also his lowest grid position since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix when he qualified 15th but was penalized for engine modifications that put him 19th.

Sainz’s former teammate Lando Norris will lead the second row after qualifying third. It’s the highest McLaren has qualified this season, as both Norris and rookie Oscar Piastri made it into Q3.

“P3, almost P2, but it’s a home race for Carlos, so I thought I’d give him a couple tenths (of a second),” Norris quipped following the session.

Norris will start alongside Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. The French driver is under investigation for impeding Verstappen and Sainz during the sessions and could face a drop on the grid from the stewards.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will also be summoned by the stewards after the two Mercedes drivers made contact during the dying moments of Q2. Hamilton’s front wing was damaged as a result, while Russell failed to make it into Q3.

Like Sainz, it’s also Fernando Alonso’s home race. While he got plenty of fan support, he struggled in the final qualifying session, out-qualified by teammate Lance Stroll for the first time this year.

Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez endured a disappointing qualifying, going off track near the end of Q2 and unable to put together a fast enough lap to make it into Q3. It’s Perez’s second straight race he’ll start outside the top 10, but the Mexican still sits second in the driver standings.