31/05/2025
NEWS STORY
Ahead of Q1 the air temperature is 29 degrees C, while the track temperature is 49 degrees. It remains sunny and hot.
Yesterday afternoon and again this morning, Piastri showed an astonishing pace, leaving his rivals, including teammate Norris, for dust.
Leclerc was third quickest, his teammate ending the session with a gearshift issue, ahead of Russell, Verstappen and Hadjar.
Antonelli and Alonso made it into the top ten, as did Hamilton and Lawson, as RB continues to show good pace.
On the evidence thus far, this afternoon isn't so much about who will claim pole but how big the gap will be and who will fill the second and third rows.
As ever, and definitely unlike last week and Imola, the softs are the way to go and the mediums are not going to throw any surprises, but the red-banded rubber only appears to be good for one lap, so any mistakes or traffic could prove disastrous.
The Stakes threw a late surprise earlier, while Alpine, Williams and Haas are clearly struggling.
Other than over enthusiasm and traffic, something else to look out for is track limits which up to now have gone unpunished. A number of drivers have strayed over the lines literally in the previous three sessions, but from here on in there will be a price to be paid.
As in previous years, despite the change to the final complex, we see cars slow around Turns 11 and 12 to create a gap for their flyers, so this will bew an issue this afternoon, particularly in Q1 and Q2.
The lights go green and Colapinto leads the way, followed by Ocon, Berman, Stroll and Albon.
All are on fresh softs.
Colapinto gets things underway with a 13.897 while Ocon can only manage 14.016.
Stroll stops the clock at 13.699 while Albon goes second with a 13.745.
More drivers begin to emerge among them the McLaren pair.
Hulkenberg posts a 13.499 but did he run wide in the final corner?
Tsunoda can only manage fourth, as Lawson goes top (13.482).
Sainz goes third, but is demoted when Antonelli posts a 13.344 and Norris a 12.799..
Russell goes second (12.806), as Hadjar goers third with a 13.266.
Quickest in S2, Piastri stops the clock at 12.551 despite a couple of mistakes in the final sector.
Alonso goes fifth, ahead of Hamilton and Hadjar.
Verstappen splits the Papaya pair with a 12.798, just 0.001s up on Norris.
While Sainz remains 18th, Albon is currently sixth.
A number of drivers, including Colapinto, appear to be going for three soft runs.
Norris is first out for the final assault, the Briton 0.248s down on his teammate who is also heading down the pitlane. There's a problem in the pitlane where Colapinto has an issue and can't move, leaving a queue of frustrated drivers behind him. The Argentine is currently 11th.
As drivers overtake the stranded Alpine, the likes of Leclerc are under pressure to complete another flying lap.
Bortoleto improves to seventh and Hulkenberg tenth.
Antonelli goes fifth, Gasly ninth and Hadjar eleventh.
Sainz goes thirteenth, as Colapinto fails to leave the pitlane.
Hamilton goes ninth, Lawson seventh, Ocon fifteenth and Bearman eleventh.
Tsunoda can only manage nineteenth as Stroll goes seventh.
Quickest is Piastri, ahead of Verstappen, Norris, Russell, Antonelli, Leclerc, Stroll, Lawson, Albon and Bortoleto.
We lose Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Colapinto and Tsunoda.
A massive blow to Red Bull and home boy Sainz.
"Not good," says the Spaniard when told that he is P18.
"I don't understand why we're going so early," says Albon as he waits in the pitlane, while there is concern over whether Tsunoda damage the floor of his car when running wide at the start of the session.
Albon heads out to get Q2 underway but is quickly overtaken by Alonso. Bearman joins them.
Albon posts a 13.113 but it's a scrappy lap. Bearman responds with a 13.650.
Verstappen goes purple in S1, but Bortoleto goes quicker!
Verstappen crosses the line at 12.358, as Lawson goes second (13.102) only to be demoted by Bortoleto who posts a 13.046.
Gasly goes second with a 12.611, Hadjar third but both are demoted when Norris posts a 12.056.
Alonso so goes third (12.523), but Leclerc has a 12.495 up his sleeve. Hamilton goes third (12.447), but drops to fourth when Piastri posts an 11.998 to go top, 0.058s up on his teammate.
Russell goes fourth and Antonelli ninth.
Russell reports dark clouds in the distance (over Turn 13), but there is no prediction of rain during the session. The Briton adds that he is happy to give his teammate a tow if needed.
Stroll leads the way as the final assault gets underway. Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton appear to have settled for what they've done.
Stroll improves to twelfth, while Antonelli goes eighth. But is it enough?
Gasly goes ninth Albon tenth and Bortoleto eleventh.
Hadjar goes sixth, which is bad news for Albon.
Lawson remains thirteenth, while Bearman remains fifteenth.
Piastri is quickest, ahead of Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Hadjar, Leclerc, Alonso, Antonelli and Gasly.
We lose Albon, Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll and Bearman.
"Dirty, dirty, Hass," says Albon of Bearman. "They knew what they were doing, purposefully slow in sector three."
"That was the best I could do with the used tyre," says Bearman.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Barcelona here.
Piastri is first out, followed by Antonelli and Russell. With McLaren appearing to be so dominant here the big question is who will claim P3.
Verstappen follows, as do Gasly and Hamilton.
Piastri crosses the line at 11.836, while Antonelli responds with a 12.915.
Russel goes second with a 12.075 while Verstappen can only manage 12.321.
Norris goes purple in S1, as Hamilton goes fourth overall (12.433).
Norris goes top with an 11.819, 0.017s up on his teammate.
"I still don't understand why we didn't do what we discussed," says Russell as Leclerc goes fourth with a 12.131.
As Alonso heads out, Gasly goes eighth, while Hadjar has yet to appear.
Cheered on by the crowd, Alonso goes fifth with a 12.284, ahead of Verstappen.
"Woo!" he cries.
As the crowd applauds the local hero, Hadjar heads out, followed by Gasly, Norris and Piastri.
Norris goes purple in S1, but Piastri goes quicker.
Hadjar goes fifth overall with a 12.252.
Norris has a poor second sector, while Piastri posts another purple.
Norris posts an 11.755 but his teammate crosses the line at 11.546.
Antonelli goes fourth (12.111), but is demoted when Hamilton goes third with a 12.045.
Verstappen goes third and Russell fourth, thereby demoting Hamilton and Antonelli to the third row.
So, Piastri starts from pole, ahead of Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Gasly, Hadjar and Alonso.
Albon starts eleventh, ahead of Bortoleto, Lawson, Stroll, Bearman, Hulkenberg, Ocon, Sainz, Colapinto and Tsunoda.
"We were lacking all weekend compared to them," admits Verstappen, "but we executed well and that third position is where we should be.
"I'm here, squeezing everything out of the car," he adds.
"We had a decent Friday, made some final changes to the car but it wasn't enough to challenge for the pole but it is okay. They will be tough to beat, but we'll see what we can do."
"Oscar drive very well," says Norris. "The pace was there, just a couple of mistakes and, yeah... didn't do it.
"It's a long run down to Turn 1," he adds, "it is normally interesting and we have a lot of quick guys behind us."
Asked if he has a strong race car, he replies: "We do... we have the best one."
"Very happy, it has been a good weekend so far," says Piastri. "The car has been mega, I'm glad to put in some good laps as well.
"It was a pretty miserable scene here 12 months ago," he adds, "so to turn it around was good. It wasn't the perfect lap, but happy with what I put in."
As Norris helpfully points out it is a long run to Turn 1 and while the Papayas pair sort themselves out the likes of Verstappen and Russell will be keen to take advantage.