Spanish GP: Piastri beats ‘cheeky’ Norris to pole position in McLaren qualy battle.
As McLaren’s rivals crossed the line, that was a confirmed pole position for Piastri with Norris second ahead of Verstappen and Russell. Hamilton and Antonelli were fifth and sixth.
31 May 2025
Michelle Foster
PlanetF1.com

Oscar Piastri held off a “cheeky” Lando Norris who tried to steal a tow off of him to beat his team-mate to pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. The Australian found himself trailing Norris after their opening runs in Q3, but came back with a 1:11.546 to grab pole by two-tenths of a second. Max Verstappen was third.

Piastri wasn’t hanging around in Q3 as he ventured out of the pits first, laying down a 1:11.8. His team-mate Norris completed his out-lap as Piastri crossed the line but the Australian notably moved off the racing line to cut short the tow for Norris. That, though, didn’t stop the Briton from beating his time by 0.017s to sit on provisional pole. Piastri’s response to his team-mate: “Cheeky!”

Russell and Charles Leclerc were on the provisional second row ahead of Fernando Alonso and Verstappen. Norris was the first of the McLaren team-mate outs for a second run, but only took a tenth off his previous best which opened the door to Piastri. The next to cross the line, the Australian pipped his team-mate by two-tenths to regain provisional pole.

‘Piastri wasn’t hanging around in Q3’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/spanis...lifying-report


F1 Spanish GP 2025 – Qualifying Results
Oscar Piastri led a McLaren one-two in Barcelona with Lando Norris alongside him on the front row
31 May 2025
John Smith
Total Motorsport

F1 Spanish GP 2025 Qualifying results
Check out the full Spanish GP 2025 Qualifying results from Barcelona below.
Pos Driver Team Time
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:11.546
2 Lando Norris McLaren +0.209
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.302
4 George Russell Mercedes +0.302
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.499
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.565
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.585
8 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.653
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.706
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.738

‘Qualifying results’;

https://www.total-motorsport.com/f1-...fying-results/


Piastri beats Norris to pole position in thrilling Spanish GP Qualifying as McLaren lock out front row
31 May 2025
Formula One - Official Site

Oscar Piastri has grabbed his fourth pole position of the season during Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, the championship leader beating McLaren team mate Lando Norris in the dying moments of the session. After setting the pace across Q1 and Q2, Piastri lost out to Norris when the opening runs of Q3 took place, the Briton having snatched provisional pole. But it was advantage Piastri as the final flying laps came in, the Australian pumping in a 1m 11.546s to go 0.209s quicker than the other papaya car.

Max Verstappen put in another solid Qualifying performance to slot into third for Red Bull, while Mercedes’ George Russell set an identical lap time to the Dutchman but had to settle for fourth after crossing the line later. Lewis Hamilton was the lead Ferrari in fifth, putting him ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes and the other Scuderia car of Charles Leclerc in sixth and seventh respectively. Pierre Gasly, meanwhile, took eighth for Alpine, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar again looking strong in ninth while home favourite Fernando Alonso put his Aston Martin in 10th.

‘McLaren lock out front row’;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...KSbNDbuzk1n7wE


Verstappen explains how he worked to get promising P3 in Spanish GP Qualifying
31 May 2025
Tobia Elia
GPblog.com

Third place for Max Verstappen in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying, with the Dutchman powerless against the dominance and outright pace of the two McLarens. Interviewed immediately after qualifying, Verstappen summed up his session as follows: ''I think we were lacking all weekend, of course, compared to them (McLaren), but, I think we executed well, and I think, yeah, that, that third position is, I think where we more or less should be, even though I think it's quite close behind as well.”

The grip is always quite good even with the hot temperatures, but, yeah, let's see tomorrow what we what we can do from there''. Speaking about the work done to find the right balance, Verstappen added: ''Not not too much. think we had a quite, quite a decent Friday actually, and we just made some some final changes to the car, but yeah, of course, unfortunately it wasn't enough to really challenge for the pole, but, yeah, it's okay''.

He then concluded: ''Yeah, I'll try my best, but they will be tough to beat, but we'll, yeah, see what we can do tomorrow''.

“I think we executed well”;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/verst...-gp-qualifying


Piastri defeats Norris in Spanish GP pole duel
May 31, 2025
Valentin Khorounzhiy
The Race

Oscar Piastri came from behind to defeat Lando Norris in Formula 1's all-McLaren Spanish Grand Prix pole duel. Norris was 0.017 seconds up on Piastri after the initial attempts, the pair split by no more than three hundredths in each of the sectors - but while Norris then found 0.06s on his previous best, Piastri strung together a more potent response. His 1m11.546s lifted him two tenths clear of Norris, the damage done primarily in the second sector.

Mercedes driver George Russell was the McLarens' biggest rival after those runs instead. Russell lamented on the radio that Mercedes was "too conservative" in not executing something (presumably a slipstream from team-mate Kimi Antonelli) that was worth "two tenths" - and on his second attempt, one that still featured no slipstream from Antonelli, he set the exact same time as Verstappen but set it later, so will thus start fourth.

Lewis Hamilton, in fifth, outqualified Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc - who did not do a second Q3 run, having been three tenths up on Hamilton at the halfway point of the session. That also cost Leclerc sixth, as Antonelli will join Hamilton on row three instead. Pierre Gasly took eighth for Alpine, followed by Isack Hadjar in the Racing Bulls car and Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin. Alonso ran 'in the gap' - between most drivers' first and seconds runs - and was audibly delighted with what in that moment looked a very strong lap, but will only start his home race 10th.

‘Oscar Piastri came from behind’;

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/p...-gp-pole-duel/


F1 Full Results | Spanish GP Qualifying: McLaren annihilates competition as Ferrari woes continue
12:23, 31
Tobia Elia
GPblog.com

An incredibly tight qualifying session, despite yet another dominant display from McLaren, who asserted their superiority once again at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Oscar Piastri’s lap was particularly impressive, beating his teammate by a full two tenths, while Verstappen had to settle for third.

Another disappointing outing for Ferrari, although Lewis Hamilton perhaps managed to piece together a clean lap for the first time this weekend, securing a P5 that will certainly boost morale ahead of tomorrow’s race. Leclerc could only manage P7, having used his only fresh set of tyres on his first Q3 attempt and remaining in the garage for the final run.

‘McLaren annihilates competition’;

https://www.gpblog.com/en/breaking-n...-woes-continue


Fernando Alonso expects Barcelona to stay in F1 despite Madrid arrival in 2026
May 31, 2025
Harry Whitfield
Motorsport Week

Fernando Alonso has expressed confidence that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will remain part of the Formula 1 calendar, despite Madrid taking over as host of the Spanish Grand Prix from 2026. The Aston Martin driver is set to make his 22nd Grand Prix appearance at Barcelona, where he first competed during his rookie F1 season in 2001.

“I don’t think that we will lose Barcelona, that’s my opinion and my wish as well,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week. “I think it’s good to have new venues, it’s good to have new countries as well that Formula 1 has moved to in the last decade. But at the same time, we need to keep some traditional circuits, where the history of Formula 1 has been written and made.”

“Formula 1 and Barcelona, they are very linked, we’ve been testing here for decades. I think all the teams choose Barcelona when they have to choose one test track. We come back next year in winter because we have new regulations, new cars. Once again, the teams chose Barcelona because it’s the Formula 1 track in a way.”

“I think all the teams choose Barcelona when they have to choose one test track”;

https://www.motorsportweek.com/2025/...rival-in-2026/