2024 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying results (Barcelona)
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton during the Spanish Grand Prix.
Here are the complete results from the qualifying session at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
A closely-fought qualifying session played out in Barcelona, with the sun disappearing behind the clouds for what turned out to be an overcast, and slightly cooler, hour ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Q3:
On the first runs of Q3, it was advantage Max Verstappen as the Dutch driver matched his Q2 effort by putting in a 1:11.673 – just 0.020 down on what he’d achieved in the previous session as the circuit’s cooling temperatures saw track evolution tail off.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was the closest challenger to Verstappen on the first runs, falling short in the third sector, but doing enough to keep himself of the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Russell was unhappy with Hamilton’s preparations for their laps, radioing in to ask “What the f**k was Lewis doing?”, with the response being that there would be a chat after the session to clear things up.
On the second runs, Verstappen opened up a large advantage to go three-tenths clear of the field, but it was Norris who dug deep to just pip the Red Bull driver’s lap by 0.020 seconds – this was despite Sergio Perez sacrificing his final run to give Verstappen a tow down the straight.
The duo left their rivals completely in the shade, with the Norris/Verstappen front row more than three-tenths clear of the rest as Hamilton claimed third ahead of Russell.
Charles Leclerc finished fifth for Ferrari ahead of Carlos Sainz, with Pierre Gasly claiming a remarkable seventh for Alpine in what was a strong showing from the Enstone-based squad.
With Perez taking eighth, and taking a three-place grid penalty that will drop him outside the top 10, Esteban Ocon claimed ninth, with Oscar Piastri 10th in the second McLaren.
The Australian had just one flying lap and made an error in the final sector that ruined his effort entirely, resulting in his lowly qualifying result.
- 1. Lando Norris McLaren 1:11.383
- 2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.020
- 3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.318
- 4. George Russell Mercedes +0.320
- 5. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.348
- 6. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.353
- 7. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.474
- 8. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.678
- 9. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.742
- 10. Oscar Piastri McLaren No time
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Q2:
Verstappen proved the quickest man in Q2 as the Red Bull driver set a 1:11.653.
The two Mercedes drivers, having got their eye in with used softs on the first runs, used fresh rubber to climb up to second and third as the chequered flag dropped – separated by just 0.020 seconds.
Norris was fourth for McLaren, ahead of Sainz and Piastri, with Leclerc and Perez also making it through into Q3.
The last two drivers to qualify for Q3 were the two Alpine drivers, with the team’s recent uptick in performance underlined as Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished ninth and 10th in Q2.
Eliminated were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at his home race, ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu.
- 1. Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:11.653
- 2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.139
- 3. George Russell Mercedes +0.159
- 4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.219
- 5. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.221
- 6. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.358
- 7. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.385
- 8. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.401
- 9. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.426
- 10. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.456
- 11. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.475
- 12. Valtteri Bottas Sauber +0.574
- 13. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.657
- 14. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.719
- 15. Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1.085
Q1:
Hamilton set the pace in the first part of qualifying, using a second set of soft tyres as he popped in a late 1:12.143 to go quickest ahead of Leclerc.
Verstappen was third ahead of Norris, Sainz, and Russell.
Perez was another expected frontrunner to use two sets of soft tyres after his first run didn’t assure him of progression on into Q2.
Knocked out was Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in 16th, ahead of two RBs of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo.
Tsunoda, knocked out, appeared unaware of the pace deficit of the car as he radioed in to express his satisfaction with his lap, only to be told he hadn’t made it through into the next session.
The two Williams drivers were the slowest of qualifying, with Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant taking 19th and 20th, respectively, with Sargeant set to be looked at more closely for an impeding incident.
- 1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:12.143
- 2. Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.114
- 3. Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.163
- 4. Lando Norris McLaren +0.243
- 5. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +0.260
- 6. George Russell Mercedes +0.313
- 7. Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.317
- 8. Sergio Perez Red Bull +0.334
- 9. Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.362
- 10. Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.508
- 11. Esteban Ocon Alpine +0.548
- 12. Nico Hulkenberg Haas +0.565
- 13. Valtteri Bottas Sauber +0.615
- 14. Zhou Guanyu Sauber +0.737
- 15. Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.738
- 16. Kevin Magnussen Haas +0.794
- 17. Yuki Tsunoda RB +0.842
- 18. Daniel Ricciardo RB +0.932
- 19. Alex Albon Williams +1.010
- 20. Logan Sargeant Williams +1.366
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