Things looked uncertain heading into qualifying with the weather as rain had been falling on and off throughout the morning and early afternoon in Barcelona. The F2 race started out wet but ended up on dry tyres in the closing laps.
They got out quickly in the opening segment due to the threat of the weather turning once again.
Q1
On an outlap, Yuki Tsunoda had a big moment in turn 12 and slid towards the gravel.
Russell posted a 1:15.735 to go fastest, but that was quickly beaten as Hülkenberg logged a 1:14.006 to be fastest before a red flag. Gasly, Ocon, Stroll were the only other drivers within a second of the German. However, the Haas driver lost his time due to a track limits infringement at turn 6.
Multiple drivers followed Tsunoda in spinning at turn 12 as a wet patch kept catching them out. Bottas and De Vries joined him in doing so but both carried on.
Fernando Alonso had a huge moment in the final turn and took an excursion through the gravel himself.
A red flag was ultimately caused by Alex Albon as he put stones on the track after recovering from a spin into the gravel at turn 5.
Gasly on a 1:14.612 led Ocon, Stroll, Magnussen Hamilton, Russell and Alonso out of the drivers who had posted a time before the session resumed.
When things got underway again, De Vries had a similar spin at the same corner to continue his nightmare start to the session.
A 1:13.615 from Max Verstappen put him top of the charts with 7 minutes to go. A fantastic effort from Oscar Piastri put him P2, ahead of Hamilton, Ocon and Guanyu. Sainz, De Vries, Russell, Norris and Alonso completed the top 10.
Amazingly, Pérez and Leclerc found themselves in the relegation zone with 5 minutes to go as they struggled on their first set of tyres. Tsunoda, Albon and Sargeant were also in it ahead of the final runs.
The times tumbled at the end of the session as a 1:12.957 from Lewis Hamilton saw the seven-time World Champion end up fastest, ahead of fellow Brits Lando Norris and George Russell by 0.3s.
Sainz, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Gasly, De Vries (despite his many adventures), Verstappen and Guanyu completed the top 10. Piastri, Alonso, Stroll, Tsunoda and Pérez also made it into Q2.
It was massive struggle for Checo but he just made it through. The big casualty was Charles Leclerc as he was off the pace throughout the session and got bumped out in P19.
Guanyu knocked out his teammate at the very end as he went exactly 0.3s faster than his Finnish teammate.
Bottas, Magnussen, Albon, Leclerc and Sargeant were the five drivers who ultimately got bumped out.
Gasly is likely to face two penalties as he blocked Sainz at turn 13 and Verstappen at turn 4 respectively during the session.
Q2
Verstappen kicked things off in Q2 with a 1:12.760 on new soft tyres, with Pérez 0.854s slower on used softs. Sainz slotted in behind the Mexican as he did a 1:13.790.
Hamilton had gone a purple first sector on his first flying lap but had a snap in turn 4 and abandoned his attempt. He went again and purple sectors in 1 and 3 put him into P2. Only Hamilton joined Verstappen in the 1:12s.
Behind the top two, Alonso, Ocon and Stroll completed the top 5. Russell, Gasly, Pérez, Sainz and Guanyu completed the top 10 with 5 minutes to go.
Norris, Piastri, De Vries, Tsunoda and Hülkenberg were in the dropzone.
A difficult qualifying for Checo continued as he went off the road at turn 5 and had to try again.
Verstappen remained at the top of the charts, but a stunning lap from Lando Norris moved him up to P2. Carlos Sainz also got close to the Dutchman’s time as he went P3.
There was an incredible moment between the Mercedes on the main straight as Hamilton and Russell made contact.
Russell looked to have cut in front of his teammate at turn 14 before their flying laps started. The seven-time World Champion had a damage front wing but could change it for Q3.
Nonetheless, Hamilton easily made it through to Q3. He was joined by Ocon, Piastri, Stroll, Alonso, Gasly and Hülkenberg.
Two shocks occurred with Pérez and Russell only managing P11 and P12. Guanyu, De Vries and Tsunoda also got knocked out. The Japanese driver had gone P11 but his time was removed for track limits.
Q3
It was Verstappen out early again in the final segment of qualifying and he banged in a stunning 1:12.272 on new tyres to put him well clear of the field. On the used tyres, Hamilton was the leader of that group as a 1:13.196 was good enough for P2.
A 1:13.544 from Norris saw him edge out Ocon, Sainz and Piastri. Stroll and Gasly also completed a run, with Hülkenberg and Alonso going for a single run in the closing 5 minutes.
Running in the gap, Hülkenberg put in a great lap to slot himself into 3rd.
Verstappen was on an improvement on his second lap but decided not to complete it. He comfortably took pole by almost half a second from Carlos Sainz.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
It was a sensational lap from Lando Norris in the McLaren as he took P3, narrowly beating Gasly and Hamilton to it.
Stroll, Ocon, Hülkenberg, Alonso and Piastri completed the top 10. Alonso’s hopes were hampered as a damaged floor from his Q1 errors leaves him down the grid.
