Finally, the updated cars went to a real competition. This Saturday (20) in Barcelona, Charles Leclerc showed that Ferrari worked well. Thus, he won the pole position of the Spanish GP
Who's who in Formula One after the official start of the European leg of the 2022 season? It is still a question that needs more answers, especially since races tend to offer different impressions and conclusions than classifications. But Saturday's starting grid in Barcelona gave the first competitive answer to this question. And who left with a broad smile was Charles Leclerc and Ferrari.
It was one of those classifications. Although Leclerc dominated free practice and Q1, Ferrari was beaten with gusto in Q2. Max Verstappen was fastest in the intermediate stage, but George Russell and Lewis Hamilton gave the impression that Mercedes was very much in the fight. The fight for pole position went into Q3 a total mystery.
The first big surprise of qualifying came in Q1. Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel got in the way in the first phase of practice, something that was off the radar especially for the Spaniard, in front of the home crowd. Vettel was 16th and still put almost 0s5 on the also eliminated teammate Lance Stroll, showing that Aston Martin looks like Red Bull only from the outside. Alonso was 17th, behind Esteban Ocon, who narrowly missed out. A desperate moment for Alpine and Aston Martin.
GRANDE PRÊMIO has Eric Calduch on location to cover the category's actions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and can follow everythingLIVE and in REAL TIME. On Sunday, the start is scheduled for 10 AM [Brasilia, GMT-3].
Check out how the standings went:
Q1 - Alonso and Vettel wreck in unexpected fashion in Barcelona
The heat from earlier in the day cooled down a little, but not much at all: the temperature was still around 27°C and only the clouds had reduced the strength of the ultraviolet rays in Barcelona. Anyway, everything was as expected and, after the W Series ran on track, Formula 1 appeared again to set its starting grid for the Spanish GP.
As soon as the green light appeared in the pit-lane, Guanyu Zhou opened the track with Alfa Romeo. AlphaTauri soon sent Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly. Gasly's entry was good news, as the Frenchman only did one installation lap in TL3 and had to abandon after a brake fire broke out. The other driver who had the same problem, Mick Schumacher, was still out of the cockpit and watching Haas tinker with the car.
Red Bull decided to go out on track early and put both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez on soft tires right away. The two were going well, while Lando Norris and Lance Stroll almost ran into each other - minutes later, the stewards warned that they would investigate the incident after qualifying.
After five minutes, the track was packed with people. Without saving, the two Ferrari's appeared with laps around 1min19s - Charles Leclerc ahead of Carlos Sainz. The only one who dared to break the top-6 barrier after the first few laps was Valtteri Bottas, who appeared slightly ahead of Sergio Pérez.
The Mexican driver was still trying to get to grips with the track and went through the gravel at turn eight. Despite being seventh, he wanted to try a second set of tires to get an extra lap and not run the risk of being out of Q2. Before the last session of fast laps, Alexander Albon, Stroll, Gasly, Mick Schumacher - who managed to get on track - and Nicholas Latifi were the ones who were below the cut-off mark.
The last minutes, however, would bring strong emotions. Not in the front-runners, who didn't even try fast laps again, but in the fight for qualifying. This is because Gasly and Schumacher were able to get in smoothly, as was Tsunoda, who was pushed out briefly. The two Williams stayed right to the end, but the other three spots were changing hands.
Stroll was very bad and was only ahead of Albon and Latifi. Sebastian Vettel was almost 0s5s better than his teammate, but also ended up eliminated, owner of only 16th place. Informed by Aston Martin that he was out, he showed his irritation. "You've got to be joking," he said. He wasn't.
And between the two Aston Martin drivers? Fernando Alonso! After looking very strong on Friday, the Alpine wrecked. Alonso was 17th and eliminated, while Esteban Ocon was last among the qualifiers. Dramatic situation in front of the Spanish public.
Q2 - Verstappen responds and Haas qualifies
The start of the intermediate qualifying session was slow. It took about four minutes until someone took the track to open the work, and it was George Russell, with Mercedes, who set the first fast lap. In fact, a great lap: 1min19s470.
With very little porpoising along the Barcelona circuit since yesterday, Lewis Hamilton came on board and set the second best time: which held even after Ferrari and Red Bull took to the track.
Yes, with the first round of fast laps over, Russell and Hamilton were first and second. Not a mistake, it really happened. Perez was coming in third, followed by Leclerc, Bottas and Verstappen. The two Haas were sneaking into the top-10.
Before the last attempt, the transmission showed a warning from AlphaTauri to Gasly - and that all drivers received from their respective teams -: it is not allowed to open space for the car in front by waiting in the exit lane.
The one who had a laugh in Q2 turned out to be Verstappen, who put 1min19s219 on the timesheet to take first place. Sainz, Russell, and Hamilton came next. Leclerc? Only seventh, behind Magnussen and Pérez. Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, and Schumacher advanced.
The eliminated ended up being Norris, who had overtaken Ricciardo in TL3, Ocon, Tsunoda, Gasly, and Zhou. Norris, however, had done the required lap, but disregarded the track limits and ended up having his time cancelled. Thus, he was out.
Q3 - Leclerc makes mistake, recovers and gets pole-position in Barcelona
Unlike what happened in Q2, the track was packed as soon as the pit-lane doors opened for the decisive part of qualifying.
The first to lap was Hamilton, with a good, but not pole, lap of 1min19s664. But the best lapper was really Verstappen, with 1min19s073 - 0s350 better than Sainz. Pérez was still ahead of Russell and Hamilton. Leclerc made a mistake, lost his car in the middle of the chicane and spun alone in the center of the track. His first attempt ended without even a timed lap.
Bottas, Ricciardo, Magnussen and Schumacher, in this exact order, organized the line between sixth and ninth places, before Charles.