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George Russell had a slight mishap but no harm done is the word from the Merc team. “Just pushing the limits, car’s fine, car’s fine,” he says. “I’ll do my best and see what comes.”
Two drivers are starting in the pit lane.
It’s a suspension set-up change for Leclerc that mandates a pit lane start, and he doesn’t lose a position because Sargeant has done the same (as well as brake cooling) so both start from the pit lane #F1 #SpanishGP
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) June 4, 2023 He brings the rain…it’s expected to downpour at the start.
Lando Norris in third on the grid the first sign of McLaren being a progressive outfit?
After an impressive third in 2020, the sheen has come off their resurgence. In 2021 they finished fourth; in 2022 under the new regulations and with hope of a real step forward, they emerged with a car off the pace and ended up fifth.
This year has been even worse, with Norris and his new teammate, the talented Australian Oscar Piastri, returning best finishes of sixth and eighth respectively in Melbourne. The downward slide continuing, McLaren are currently sixth in the constructors’ championship.
Giles Richards is our man in Barcelona.
Lewis Hamilton and his fellow Mercedes driver, George Russell, hit one another on track, the first time the pair have clashed since becoming teammates in 2022.
The incident was unintentional, Wolff said, and a failing on behalf of the team. “It’s all down to miscommunication because drivers in the same team don’t want to crash into each other on their final lap in qualifying,” he said. “It was just an unfortunate situation. It looks silly.”
Russell, who had aborted a flying lap and was looking to start another, did not know Hamilton was behind him and approaching at pace to begin his own hot lap when he moved over on the straight. Hamilton was forced on to the grass to avoid Russell but clipped him, taking damage to his front wing in the process.
Hamilton accused his teammate of backing off, saying: “That is really dangerous.”
PreambleMax Verstappen is going for three in a row, five from seven, Red Bull continue to go for a clean sweep. That’s about the size of it, though this time Verstappen does not have Sergio Perez for company on the front of the grid. The Mexican is 11th where he has George Russell for company after the Mercedes mixup/prang. Let’s see how tensions are in the Mercs while Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris in the Ferrari and McLaren respectively, look best equipped to try and stop the runaway Red Bull. It seems likely most of the fun will be in midfield with the likes of Charles Leclerc, Sainz and Russell trying to make their way up.
Lights out at 2pm UK time, 3pm Catalunya time.
Final Times after Qualification:
1 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1min 12.272secs,
2 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spa) Ferrari 1:12.734,
3 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:12.792,
4 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:12.816,
5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:12.818,
6 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:12.994,
7 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:13.083,
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:13.229,
9 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:13.507,
10 Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:13.682,
11 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:13.334,
12 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:13.447,
13 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.521,
14 Nyck de Vries (Ned) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:14.083,
15 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:14.477,
16 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:13.977,
17 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:14.042,
18 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:14.063,
19 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:14.079,
20 Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:14.699