Norris snatches pole position from Verstappen

A close decision was expected in the battle for the best grid position on the track in the north-east of Barcelona after the drivers of the superior Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes teams were on an equal footing in the practice sessions. And so it turned out.

In the end, Lando Norris in the McLaren came out on top by the narrowest of margins. The 24-year-old Englishman secured pole position with a lead of two hundredths over Max Verstappen, last year's winner and world championship leader. "It was a perfect lap," said an overjoyed Norris after catching Verstappen at the last minute.

This is only the second time that the 24-year-old Englishman has started a Formula 1 race from the front of the grid. He made his debut in his debut season in Sochi in 2021.

Front row has great value

A look at the past shows just how important a top result in qualifying at Montmelo is. The last seven races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya have been won from the front row of the grid, five of them from pole position. Norris, who celebrated his only GP victory to date seven weeks ago in Miami, is cautiously confident. "It's going to be tough, but we're here to win now," he announced.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will line up in the Mercedes on the second row of the grid. They will be followed by the Ferrari drivers - Charles Leclerc, Verstappen's closest rival in the championship standings with a 56-point deficit, and Carlos Sainz. The cars in positions 3 to 6 were all within 35 thousandths of a second.

Sauber with both cars in Q2

Zhou Guanyu in the Sauber made it into the second part of qualifying for the first time this season. The Chinese driver will be 15th on the grid. Valtteri Bottas in the second Hinwil car will start the tenth race of the season from 12th on Sunday (15:00). The Finn thus remains unbeaten in his internal duel with Zhou this year.