Having been out-paced by Ferrari (and others) in Monaco and Mercedes in Canada, Red Bull were expected to be the team to beat once more at the Circuit de Catalunya.
But for the third weekend in a row one of their rivals have taken pole position. Lando Norris relegated the leading Red Bull to second on the grid, albeit by a margin of just two-hundredths of a second.
Max Verstappen was the driver to beat right up until the moment Norris deposed him. He was quickest after the first runs in Q3 and improved on his second, but Norris found just enough with his final run to claim pole position. Both drivers were at their absolute best, stringing their three quickest sectors together when it mattered most:
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| P. | # | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate lap (deficit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | 21.383 (4) | 28.402 (1) | 21.598 (2) | 1’11.383 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | 21.369 (3) | 28.541 (2) | 21.493 (1) | 1’11.403 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | 21.342 (2) | 28.597 (4) | 21.684 (6) | 1’11.623 (+0.080) |
| 4 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 21.333 (1) | 28.625 (5) | 21.69 (7) | 1’11.648 (+0.088) |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 21.456 (6) | 28.543 (3) | 21.659 (4) | 1’11.658 (+0.043) |
| 6 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | 21.39 (5) | 28.672 (6) | 21.669 (5) | 1’11.731 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | 21.547 (9) | 28.677 (7) | 21.633 (3) | 1’11.857 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | 21.469 (7) | 28.694 (8) | 21.784 (13) | 1’11.947 (+0.064) |
| 9 | 11 | Sergio Perez | 21.494 (8) | 28.79 (10) | 21.725 (9) | 1’12.009 (+0.045) |
| 10 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | 21.608 (13) | 28.765 (9) | 21.698 (8) | 1’12.071 (+0.038) |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | 21.583 (12) | 28.79 (10) | 21.755 (11) | 1’12.128 |
| 12 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | 21.58 (11) | 28.843 (12) | 21.726 (10) | 1’12.149 (+0.078) |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 21.555 (10) | 28.935 (14) | 21.78 (12) | 1’12.270 (+0.040) |
| 14 | 18 | Lance Stroll | 21.636 (14) | 28.86 (13) | 21.874 (14) | 1’12.370 (+0.002) |
| 15 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | 21.686 (16) | 29.004 (15) | 22.041 (16) | 1’12.731 (+0.007) |
| 16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | 21.754 (18) | 29.17 (16) | 22.013 (15) | 1’12.937 |
| 17 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | 21.665 (15) | 29.21 (19) | 22.11 (17) | 1’12.985 |
| 18 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 21.725 (17) | 29.203 (18) | 22.147 (19) | 1’13.075 |
| 19 | 23 | Alexander Albon | 21.767 (19) | 29.193 (17) | 22.141 (18) | 1’13.101 (+0.052) |
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | 21.853 (20) | 29.41 (20) | 22.246 (20) | 1’13.509 |
Verstappen, who took pole position 12 times last year and did so again in all of the first seven races this year, said the days of Red Bull’s dominance are “completely gone” and the team “need to really try and make a step…
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