Max Verstappen on pole position in the Spanish Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc 19th in qualifying

His best times in the three free practice sessions hinted at a good weekend for Max Verstappen in Barcelona at the Spanish Grand Prix. The Dutchman confirmed his good feelings on the Catalan circuit during the F1 qualifying session on Saturday June 3, by obtaining pole position, his fourth of the season, for the race on Sunday, ahead of Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Lando Norris (McLaren).

His teammate at Red Bull, Sergio Pérez, was eliminated in Q2 and Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) will only start from the penultimate position on the starting grid.

The misfortunes of Pérez and Leclerc

While a storm had hit Barcelona earlier in the day, the waterlogged curbs surprised many drivers, notably Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas in Q1, without gravity for their single-seaters, then Sergio Pérez at the end of Q2. Launched on a timed lap, the Mexican left the track, in the gravel, without damaging his car, and could not improve his time, finishing 11th.

This is already his third elimination before Q3 this season, an anomaly as Red Bull largely dominates the championship. Sergio Perez will start just ahead of George Russell, also eliminated in Q2 despite the improvements made to his car by Mercedes this weekend.

But perhaps the biggest underperformance of the day goes to Charles Leclerc, who only set the 19^e time and will therefore start from the last row on the grid. Poleman last year, the Monegasque complained about technical problems on his car at the microphone of Canal+:“I don’t have an explanation yet, we will have to look at the data because there is something wrong, especially in the right back. There was something really weird, where in the left turns, I had grip and suddenly, I had none”. His teammate Carlos Sainz achieved his best qualification of the season with a 2nd place.

On the French side, Pierre Gasly obtained the 4th fastest time but is penalized 6 places for having hindered Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen on the track. He will therefore start 10th and his teammate Esteban Ocon will start from 6th position on the grid.