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Max 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.
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Lights out at 2pm UK time, 3pm Catalunya time.
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Final Times after Qualification:
“,”elementId”:”eb311aa0-ef10-4080-9f35-754ac29bdc04″,”_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
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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
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Key events
43/66: Verstappen says the front of his car is overheating when his Red Bull team offer him the option of changing tyres. “Maybe a few more laps.” Might Mercedes risk a lesser-stop strategy?
42/66: Leclerc, up to eighth, pits and then drops to 14th and is lapped by Verstappen. This weekend has not gone well for Ferrari.
41/66: About that rain – turns out to to have been George Russell’s sweat.
I said it was odd – Russell now realises it is probably sweat inside his own helmet. The team tells him nobody else reporting it so he's probably right #F1 #SpanishGP https://t.co/vB4i4SddpV
— Chris Medland (@ChrisMedlandF1) June 4, 2023
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40/66: Verstappen has lapped Norris, and then got a telling-off for using the limits of the track.
39/66: Hamilton is 15 seconds behind Verstappen on his medium compound. Any attack on the leader, should it arrive, will happen later in the race.
38/66: Back in 18th, Lando Norris, who was third on the grid in his McLaren. The Mac revival has not happened this weekend, after all.
37/66: The Ferrari team have their plan devised for Carlos Sainz: “stop Checo.”
36/66: “Solid work,” the pit lane tells Russell. “Just solid?” he asks.
35/66: Perez seems set to overtake Sainz, now can he catch up one of the Mercedes.
34/66: Russell blazes past Sainz and it’s two Mercedes on the tail of Verstappen.
33/66: The halfway point, and the question is how far ahead Verstappen can stay of the Mercedes.
32/66: Russell has the fastest lap, and it looks like Red Bull and Mercedes are streets ahead, and a bit more even than before.
31/66: Sergio Perez is motoring down the pack.
30/66: Verstappen heading for the grand slam of pole and leading every lap.
29/66: Verstappen claims back fastest lap, only to lose it to Russell again;
28/66: George Russell suggests there will be rain soon. He briefly holds the fastest lap/
27/66: Verstappen pits and still retains the lead…
26/66: It’s the Red Bull pair in the lead now and Verstappen will soon have the pace to take a pit stop.
25/66: Hamilton has pitted, dropping down to fifth which leaves Russell closing in on Verstappen…..No, he pits, too.
24/66: Gasly is whipping along while Leclerc in that Ferrari is struggling back in 16th.
23/66: Pierre Gasly, on those hard tyres, sets aa fastest lap.
22/66: “Keep on pushing on,” is the Mercedes strategy according to their man in the box.
21/66: Russell is campaigning for a one-stop strategy. The Mercedes garage don’t seem so sure.
20/66: Alonso, the only Spaniard to have got a podium on this track, pits his Aston Martin and drops to tenth.
19/66: Russell is telling his Mercedes team that the soft tyres are Ok for now.
18/66: The tyres strategy appears key here, as it is for everyone bar Verstappen who can idle along in front.
17/66: Leclerc goes in and changes to a hard compound tyre.
16/66: Those podium positions are Verstappen, Hamilton and Russell. The Mercedes camp seem delighted with their car.
15/66: Hamilton is right behind Sainz, looking to overtake any minute now. Ferrari are looking to change Sainz’s tyres. And he goes in, granting Hamitlon second place.
14/66: Ocon in the Alpine, decides to change his tyres, and that looks early.
13/66: Hamilton moves up on Sainz now, Mercedes chasing second and the two podium places until Perez arrives down the field.
12/66: Verstappen, riding his own race, has just set a fastest lap…only for Hulkenberg to break it, feeling the benefit of new tyres.
11/66: Russell goes after Ocon and has no problems whatsoever. Mercedes look full of form. Russell has gone from 12th right down to fifth.
10/66: With Red Bull flying away, the intrigue lies in Ferrari v Mercedes though it will take some time for Leclerc to come into the picture.
9/66: Perez goes up to eighth place, and Russell has escaped investigation for his early piece of improv.
8/66: Hamilton blazes past Stroll, DRS used. The Mercedes seems to have real straight-line speed.
7/66: Russell is up on Ocon’s shoulder in sixth, Hamilton, in fourth.
6/66: Perez, looking to make up for his poor start, whips past Hulkenberg in the Haas. Verstappen’s lead edge up to three seconds. At the back, Leclerc, after starting in the pit lane is up to the 17th.
5/66: Hamilton following Stroll into third.
4/66: Hamilton tells the Merc team his car is in good order despite that clash with Norris. George Russell has been cited for picking up five places by going wide. He’s in seventh.
3/66: Stroll did well at the start where Pierre Gasly seems to have dropped back to 14th. It was a chaotic start for all but Verstappen. Norris is back in 20th, poor lad.
2/66: A rather shaky pit for Norris and he has to accept his place right down the pack.
And away they go….
1/66: The lights go up and….Verstappen gets away well, and he holds off Sainz. Hamilton and Norris make contact, and Stroll overtakes Hamilton. Russell goes too. Norris tells his team he has damage on his McLaren. He will need a new front wing and goes into the pits. Verstappen, Sainz and Stroll are the leading three.
The celebs have departed and the engines are revving. It’s hot and humid, and the garage crews are waved off, too. Off they go on the formation lap.
The portentous music tells us that we are just about to go in Barcelona, as we await the formation lap, and the rain, too.
They’re playing this Camp Nou classic now.
Mason Mount breaking news:
Martin Brundle to Mason Mount: "He said you're going to #mufc" [@SkySportsF1] pic.twitter.com/829avPMo9Z
— utdreport (@utdreport) June 4, 2023
\n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/utdreport/status/1665337787472642048?s=20″,”id”:”1665337787472642048″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”665bff81-64b9-4571-a5fd-5115cdeb117f””/>
In the pit lane, Martin Brundle is chatting to Neymar, who says he is “happy to be here”. Mason Mount – Manchester United-bound? – is also spotted. And a bloke who is mates with the Bridgerton cast. It’s rather packed in there, and Brunds is struggling for content. But grabs Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Their lad, Brandon is there too. Zeta’s accent has strayed far from South Wales, it has to be said. Mercedes seem full of cheer. Toto Wolff on Lewis H: “Good to have him feisty.” Lando Norris: “All good for now. The main job is today.” Kev Magnussen wonders whether it will rain. Max Verstappen: “Maybe a bit of rain but it will be OK.” Flavio Briatore says he is ready for a “super race…a little bit of rain…fantastico…..”
And here come the national anthems…
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.”
George Russell takes a trip through the gravel 🪨 pic.twitter.com/0QBu74xHEW
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 4, 2023
\n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/SkySportsF1/status/1665332495804428288?s=20″,”id”:”1665332495804428288″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”852fb53c-48da-4381-9a0e-bf59e92b07af””/>
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
\n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/ChrisMedlandF1/status/1665300321579433992?s=20″,”id”:”1665300321579433992″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”155796a1-fb37-4f8f-b5be-eb9c71b92e37″”>
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.
Nice to see you, @KMbappe 👊#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/h4jngoyOfx
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
\n”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/F1/status/1665328409793232900?s=20″,”id”:”1665328409793232900″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”09632e2a-d29b-4376-8d33-c13667be9097″”/>
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.”
Preamble
Max 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
