AS IT HAPPENED
Much of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend had been billed as a battle between the top four teams – Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes – for victory, and qualifying proved just how close it was at the top as Norris sealed a spectacular pole position for Sunday’s race.
The McLaren man’s second career pole, the last coming at the Sochi Autodrom in 2021, was just two-hundredths faster than Verstappen’s P2 effort, while Mercedes had again showed encouraging signs of performance with Hamilton in P3 and Russell in P4. The Ferraris, just behind in P5 and P6, were also keen on making inroads in the race despite Leclerc and Sainz left disappointed by how far they were from pole.
As the paddock reassembled on Sunday after that exhilarating qualifying session, one big question to answer was what the weather was doing. With rain forecast overnight, and rain earlier in the day, the conditions had dried up well before the lights went out at 1500 local time.
Before the action got under way there was one small alteration to the starting grid with Williams and Alex Albon opting to change power unit elements on his car following qualifying – where he’d ended up P19 – leading to a start from the pit lane.
When the tyre blankets came off, it was revealed that all bar one driver had opted to start on the red-marked soft tyre – the aforementioned Albon being the exception. At the front, Verstappen opted to begin on used softs despite having a fresh set available, while Norris and Ferrari went for the fresh soft rubber. The Mercedes pair both began on used.