© Getty Images
2024 Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying ReportMax misses out on pole by just 0.020 seconds in Spain
MaxVerstappen
Watch:Max'sQualiReaction
Watch:Checo'sQualiReaction
FP3
After a solid Friday that left Max feeling that his set-up only needed “tidying up a little”, the champion upped the pace in final practice to finish just seven hundredths of a second off top spot. In a slow-burn session in which many restricted themselves to a longer run mid-session and then a late qualifying simulation, Max’s Soft-tyre netted a lap time of 1:13.087s, leaving him in P4, just 0.037s off third-placed Charles Leclerc and only 0.074s behind fastest man, Carlos Sainz.
Checo, meanwhile, ended the final hour of practice in seventh place thanks to a best lap of 1:13.723. That put him behind the Mercedes cars of fifth-placed George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and 0.666s behind Max.
Q1
Five minutes into the opening session of qualifying, the Bulls left the garage for the first time, with Checo leading the way. The Mexican quickly jumped to the top of the order with a lap of 1:13.090, almost seven tenths of a second clear of early pacesetter Daniel Ricciardo. Max then knocked another seven tenths off the benchmark time as he claimed top spot with a lap of 1:12.306. The Bulls were then split by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took P2 five hundredths of a second ahead of Checo, and as the opening runs came to an end, Max was edged out of P1 by Charles Leclerc who went just under five hundredths of a second quicker than the Dutchman to take top spot.
Checo also slid back as the last of the opening run times came in and while Leclerc, Max, third-placed Lando Norris and P4 man Carlos Sainz saved a set of tyres and stayed in their garages for the final flyers, Checo, who had dropped to P10, was forced to make another attempt. This time the Minister’s lap of 1:12.477 was good enough for an eventual P8 and smooth passage through to Q2, just 0.171s off Max, who also went through comfortably, in third place, behind Leclerc and fastest man Lewis Hamilton who used a final run to take P1 with a lap of 1:12.143.
At the other end of the order, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was knocked out in P16 ahead of the VCARBs of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo, and the Williams cars of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.
Q2
Checo was the first of the frontrunners across the line in the opening runs of Q2 and he set the early benchmark at 1:12.270. That was swiftly eclipsed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and by the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but it was Max who stretched furthest ahead, with the champion taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:11.653 that left him over two tenths clear of Norris and third-placed Carlos Sainz. Piastri dropped to fourth ahead of Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, while Checo ended the first series of flyers in P8, behind Gasly.
As the second runs got underway, Lewis Hamilton who had been languishing down in P15 jumped to second place and when Valtteri Bottas also jumped into the top 10, Checo fell to P10. Once again, though, the Red Bull driver was up to the challenge and a good lap of 1:12.054 saw Checo take P8 and a slot in the top-10 shootout.
At the top of the order, Max again sat out the final runs and this time the champion’s opening run time was good enough to hold onto top spot ahead of Hamilton and George Russell.
Ruled out after Q2 were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in P11 followed by Bottas, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and the second Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.
Q3
Checo was once again out early in Q3 but having put in two runs in each of the preceding sessions, this time he went out on used Soft tyres. It meant that his first time of Q3 was slower than his Q2 times and he ended the opening runs in P9.
Max, though, was flying and moments later he set the benchmark at 1:11.673, a tenth ahead of Norris who was looking likeliest to halt Max’s march towards a 40th career pole. The Dutchman upped the pace even further in his final run putting in a purple middle sector to drop the pole time to 1:11.403. With Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz failing to get within three tenths of that time, it looked like Max might be on course for an eighth pole of the season.
However, in the final seconds Norris found more pace to claw his way ahead of the champion by the tiny margin of two hundredths of a second.
Max was happy with his 67th front row in F1 and insisted that the race win is still in his sights.
"In qualifying it was all coming together a bit nicer, in the practice sessions it was a bit difficult,” he said. “In Q3 I got a nice tow from Checo to extract everything, but it wasn't enough. It is definitely all to play for tomorrow."
HowTheBullsPerformed
RankDriverTeamTimeGap
1Lando NorrisMcLaren1:11.383-
2Max VerstappenOracle Red Bull Racing1:11.403+0.020
3Lewis Hamilton Mercedes1:11.701+0.318
4George RussellMercedes1:11.703+0.320
5Charles LeclercFerrari1:11.731+0.348
6Carlos Sainz Ferrari1:11.736+0.353
7Pierre GaslyAlpine1:11.857+0.474
8Oracle Red Bull Racing1:12.061+0.678
9Esteban OconAlpine1:12.125+0.742
10Oscar PiastriMcLarenNo Time SetNo Time Set
Oracle Red Bull Racing - Partner Stack
Red Bull GmbH
Oracle
Partner Stack Row
Partner Stack Row
Partner Stack Row
Red Bull GmbH

Looking for something specific?Search