Oscar Piastri lived up to the promise he showed in practice to snatch pole position for the . He faced fierce competition from team-mate but found more pace than the Brit on his final run of qualifying when it really mattered.
Norris was at the top of the timesheets at the end of the top 10's first runs in the final part of Saturday's session. He was helped by an inadvertent tow from team-mate who called him "cheeky" over the radio when he realised what the Brit had managed to do.
But the Aussie had the last laugh with a tremendous final effort which saw him post a time more than two-tenths of a second clear of anyone else. will be delighted to lock out the front row, as will who will recognise that third on the grid was the best he was going to be able to do.
rediscovered his qualifying from to join the Dutchman on the front row, setting the exact same lap time but having to settle for fourth because he was second to do it. And after a wretched time in practice, produced a stellar lap to go fifth fastest, two places ahead of in the other , the two of them split by .
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delighted the locals by making it to the top 10 in his . But there was only pain for the other Spaniard in the fight with suffering an unexpectedly early exit, leaving him towards the back of the grid for Sunday's race.
There were some big disappointments in the early stages, including at who saw qualify 20th and last. He was the only one slower than Franco Colapinto who suffered a problem in the pit lane as he went out on track for his final lap of Q1 and didn't get the chance to try to improve his time on an improving track.
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The locals groaned as Sainz also failed to progress, meaning he will start his home race 18th on the grid. Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were the other drivers disappointed to find themselves in the bottom five at the end of that first part of qualifying.
Williams would not have either of their drivers in the top 10 as Alex Albon narrowly missed out, accusing Oliver Bearman of "dirty" tactics over the radio, believing they had purposely given him turbulent air to drive through on the last corner of his final flying lap.
He was ahead of the impressive rookie Gabriel Bortoleto who steered his Sauber to 12th on the grid – the best qualifying result of his short F1 career to date. He was faster than Liam Lawson in 13th, ahead of Lance Stroll while Bearman had to settle for just 15th as Haas endured a difficult Saturday in Barcelona.
Norris set his stall out in Q3 with a mega first effort which threatened to deny Piastri pole. But the Aussie had been on top throughout his practice and nailed his final effort, while his British team-mate seemed to over-drive somewhat, losing crucial time as a result.
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