Spanish GP: Norris rocks Verstappen to take pole

McLaren's Lando Norris snatched pole position by two hundredths of a second from Red Bull's Max Verstappen in the final moments of qualifying for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. Mercedes were on strong form to lock out the second row of the grid, Lewis Hamilton for once out-qualifying his team mate George Russell, while Ferrari had to settle for third row spots for Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Oscar Piastri had a lap deleted in Q3 for track limits and ran wide on his final run leaving him without a time. Sergio Perez made it through to the last round but a three-place grid penalty means he will start tomorrow's race from 11th. 2024 Spanish Grand Prix - Qualifying results Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya continued to bask in the glorious sunshine and blue skies of early summer, cooler than Friday but still no chance of rain for the session as the drivers prepared to set the grid for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz had topped the three practice sessions, but Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were equally well placed to bid for pole. Anything could happen in the next 60 minutes. Q1: Hamilton pips Leclerc and Verstappen, but RB and Williams fall short RB's Daniel Ricciardo set the early pace with a time of 1:13.771s on the soft tyres to put him ahead of Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and his own team mate Yuki Tsunoda. The real big hitters held back waiting for more rubber to go down before finally emerging from pit lane en masse and getting to work, meaning that congestion instantly became a factor. Sergio Perez took over at the top with a time of 1:13.090s but the Mexican's pace hasn't been a match for his Red Bull team mate this weekend, even before his three place grid penalty from Montreal is applied. Verstappen soon took over with a new target of 1:12.306s, Norris just eight thousandths of a second behind, while Hamilton and Oscar Piastri were seven tenths behind the lead pair. Leclerc showed that he had well and truly addressed his Friday issues by going 0.049s quicker than Verstappen, with Sainz making his mark in fourth just ahead of George Russell. Only two tenths covered the top five. Just as he had been the day before, Pierre Gasly made his mark in P6 and a good effort from Nico Hulkenberg put the Haas into seventh ahead of Hamilton's existing flying lap. With everyone having posted a time, Ricciardo had been driven down to P15 and those at risk of elimination were Alex Albon, Yuki Tsunoda, Zhou Guanyu, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant. Everyone had the chance to make another run and soon those at the back were emerging from the pits, Albon leading the way. He moved up to 12th with the benefit of a clear track ahead of him but it wasn't long before Albon was pushed back into the bottom five as both Saubers moved up into safety. The top five had all decided they didn't need to come back out, allowing Hamilton to vault to the top on a new set of softs. Fernando Alonso flirted with danger on the bubble, but the Aston's final push of Q1 propelled him to the safety of the top ten. As the chequered flag came out and the dust settled, Magnussen failed to make the cut along with both RB cars (Tsunoda pipping Ricciardo) and the two Williams drivers (Albon and Sargeant slowest of all). Q2: Verstappen on top, Hamilton and Russell best of the rest as Leclerc gambles The first time of the second round was 1:13.630s set by Lance Stroll, nine tenths off the pace from Q1. As the Canadian completed his solo lap, others started to head out with Esteban Ocon followed by Perez, Gasly and Hulkenberg. Gasly's time was a second and a half quicker than Stroll and enough to put him ahead of Perez by 0.088s. Leclerc clocked in at the top but his time was pipped by Piastri who was in turn displaced from the top by Sainz, and then it was Norris' turn to briefly go P1 by two thousandths before Verstappen moved the goal posts significantly further with a time of 1:11.653s, two tenths clear of the field. Russell slotted in to P6 but Hamilton was on a used set of softs and was outside the top ten along with Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll and Zhou Guanyu. With everyone heading back to the pits, Stroll once again made use of the clear track to set off for his second flier of the round which put him on the bubble in tenth. Verstappen, Norris and Sainz had no need to come back out, but with two minutes on the clock, Hamilton was back in business. He duly scrambled out of the elimination zone by going P2, with Russell joining him in third. Leclerc had also gambled on not coming back out in order to save a set of soft tyres. The risky Ferrari strategy was proved right despite late improvements from a number of drivers including both Alpines. Less fortunate was Alonso who ended up on the wrong side of the cut along with Bottas, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Zhou. Q3: Norris rocks Verstappen for pole with Hamilton and Russell on second row Perez was first to hit the track for the final top ten pole shoot-out round, but others were soon spilling out of pit lane as he started a banker lap of 1:13.061s on used softs. Verstappen was over a second quicker despite a little wobble on his lap, putting him ahead of Norris, Sainz and Leclerc. The Mercedes cars were last in business with Hamilton and Russell pushing their way into third and fourth (Russell complaining about Hamilton's warm-up procedure holding him up) while Piastri had his lap deleted for breaching track limits. The initial flurry of flying laps complete, the cars were briefly back on pit lane making last minute changes for their final run as clouds started to build up over the circuit, cooling the track at a crucial juncture. Perez was first to come back out ahead of Piastri, Ocon, Sainz and Leclerc. Then it was Verstappen, Gasly and Norris with Mercedes leaving it late again. The pressure was on Piastri to set a time and it took its toll as the McLaren ran wide into the gravel, wrecking his chance of a fast time. His team mate fared better with Norris edging two hundredths ahead of Verstappen for a phenomenal pole and Hamilton finally getting one over Russell in qualifying with P3 on the grid for Sunday. The two Ferraris were left to share the third row, with Gasly pipping Perez meaning that the penalty-hit Red Bull will start tomorrow's race from 11th promoting Ocon, Piastri and Alonso each up a position. 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