At Round 9 of the 2025 Formula 1 season held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Oscar Piastri excited fans when he took his first pole position of the year. Lando Norris’ teammate in the McLaren, who looked impressive all weekend, gave a flawless lap and was two-tenths of a second faster than him. The outcome is a huge improvement for Piastri compared to his unhappy outing here in 2022.
The action continued even after that. Max Verstappen and George Russell both did the same lap time, but since Verstappen did it first, he was given the lead to take third place on the grid. In fifth, Lewis is placed, after he posted a steady session and following him will be rookie phenomenon Andrea Kimi Antonelli, having impressed greatly after some early issues. It was Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly, Isack Hadjar and Fernando Alonso who just missed out on the top places, helping create an interesting assortment of driving talents among the first ten.
There were a few surprises during the session. In Q1, Carlos Sainz from Spain and the French drivers Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were all eliminated. A mechanical failure meant that Franco Colapinto was stuck in the pit lane and the problem eliminated him before Tsunoda as well. The final part of Q2 saw Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson both not make the cut, as Alex Albon, Lance Stroll and Ollie Bearman also did not make it to Q3.
Although McLaren looked unstoppable throughout the weekend, particularly on the fast parts of the track, Sunday’s race might have all sorts of surprises. Since temperatures are dropping and most cars will make two pit stops, both Verstappen and the Mercedes team members could try to stop the McLaren party. Also, the variability of the opening Turn 1 and the goal to avoid air gapping make for a captivating Spanish Grand Prix.
Alpine will hope Gasly can use this strong result to their advantage, as they try to keep in touch with better teams. Eyes will be on Alonso, the fan favorite, as he tries to make his first season points with the fans on his side.
Because the grid is crowded and situations might change at any second, Sunday’s race should be a classic one. The way qualifying unfolded today tells us that we are expecting an unpredictable race.
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