There were big surprises in the qualifying sessions of the Formula 1 Spanish race, but the familiar winner – the Ferrari driver remained in the opening section

Max Verstappen drove to pole position in Barcelona. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez was one of the failures of the day.

Max Verstappen overwhelmingly drove to the pole position in the qualifying sessions of the Formula 1 Barcelona race with a time of 1.12.272. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz lost to the Dutchman by more than four tenths and drove McLaren, who finished third nicely Lando Norris 0.520 seconds. Norris has collected only three points this season before the competition in Spain.

– I am really happy. A difficult time trial, but apparently we always perform well in these challenging time trials, Norris expressed the mood after the time trial.

Verstappen, who convincingly drove his fourth pole position of the season, started to share praises after the final section.

– The car was really good. The beginning of the time trial was challenging due to the weather, but in the final section the car went like on rails. It was a pleasure to drive, I love the track, the fans and I have a lot of great memories here, Verstappen beamed.

Apart from the winner, there were plenty of surprises in the qualifying sessions. The biggest bang was Verstappen’s teammate by Sergio Perez staying in the starting square 11.

The start of the time trials was immediately challenging when, among other things, Valtteri Bottas mixed Fernando Alonso rolled out of the slippery track onto the gravel side. The jury stopped the session with red flags for a few minutes, because the gravel that had drifted onto the track was cleaned.

The rain decreased significantly after the start and the track dried out towards the end of the section. This was reflected in improved lap times. One big surprise was seen in the opening section, when Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc dropped out of the continuation and stayed on the starting grid 19. Valtteri Bottas did not reach a good enough pace in his last fast lap, was the first to drop out of the second section and was 16th.

The second section went under Verstappen’s command. The Dutchman set the fastest time of the day 1.12.760 at the beginning of the section. Sergio Perez, on the other hand, was in trouble throughout the section. The Mexican slipped on the sand at the end of the section. The Red Bull driver managed to drive one more fast lap, and the time he drove was not enough to continue.

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell also organized drama for the team in the second section. Hamilton was setting off for a fast lap when he tried to pass Russell. However, Russell, who was also on a fast lap, did not let the seven-time world champion pass and the cars hit each other. However, Hamilton’s earlier time was enough for the continuation. Russell fell out of the continuation and ended up in 12th on the starting grid.

In the final section, Verstappen practically led from start to finish. Experienced Alonso and Hamilton couldn’t do their best in the final section. Hamilton left grid five and Alonso grid nine.