On his Red Bull debut race, Max Verstappen has showed a seriously fast pace at the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying this afternoon. He managed to finish third through Q1 and Q2 beating Ricciardo in both instances. Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole for tomorrow’s race after a last minute lap saved him – he locked up on his first attempt in Q3.

Rosberg will start the race from P2 next to his fellow Mercedes teammate. Red Bull will start from the second row, Ricciardo beat Verstappen in the final run to claim P3 ahead of the youngster, but for Red Bull this was a very fascinating race evidenced by their incredible pace over the Ferraris. Raikkonen finished the session in P5 leading the other Ferrari of Vettel which settled for P6.

Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Results – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes-AMG F1
2. Nico Rosberg – Mercedes-AMG F1
3. Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull Racing
4. Max Verstappen – Red Bull Racing
5. Kimi Raikkonen – Scuderia Ferrari
6. Sebastian Vettel – Scuderia Ferrari
7. Valtteri Bottas – Williams F1
8. Carlos Sainz – Scuderia Toro Rosso
9. Sergio Perez – Force India
10. Fernando Alonso – McLaren-Honda

Manor was the first team to head out in Q1 followed by the two Saubers of Ericsson and Nasr. While everyone else went for the soft tires, Force India opted for the hard ones. Meanwhile, Pascal posted the first time with a 1m26.148s lap but Ericsson edged him with a faster 1m25.953s lap.

Soon as the Mercedes cars got underway, Hamilton set the fastest time on his first flier with a 1m23.214s lap but Rosberg managed to slash that by 0.212s.

Perez then put his Force India third behind the Mercedes, followed by teammate Hulkenberg – the two were then split by Magnussen in the Renault. Red Bull’s Verstappen posted his flier to take third behind Rosberg and Hamilton, Raikkonen sat in fourth ahead Vettel. With less than 5 minutes left into Q1, Red Bull had managed to put both cars ahead of the Ferraris, when Ricciardo jumped into fourth behind Verstappen.

Q1 chequered flag flew, with all the top nine in the pits waiting to post their final laps. Hulkenberg went out fast and managed to jump from P16 to P8, Massa went into the pits and was out in Q1. He was joined by Palmer, Ericsson, Nasr, Wehrlein and Haryanto. The top ten in Q1 were Rosberg, Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel, Bottas, Gutierrez, Hulkenberg and Sainz.

Q2 kicked off to a slow start with everyone still fixed in the pits, the two Mercedes cars took advantage of the clear track and headed out with Hamilton in the lead. Hulkenberg and Perez joined the Mercedes duo moments later, Sainz made it five cars on the track in his Toro Rosso.

A 1m22.159s flier lap for Hamilton put him right on top, Rosberg was slower but good for second. Perez’s time was faster than Hulkenberg’s lap, but Sainz beat them both and claimed an early P3. Alonso put his McLaren in fourth behind Sainz, while Grosjean in the Haas lay in fifth.

Soon as the Red Bulls came out, Ricciardo’s time put him in third but he was beaten again by Verstappen, both cars were right behind the Mercedes duo. Bottas also passed Sainz for fifth, leaving the Toro Rosso in sixth. The Ferraris were not so far either, Vettel’s time split the two Red Bulls for fourth, Raikkonen had not posted a time yet with four minutes left on the clock.

And Raikkonen beat Vettel to P4, still behind Verstappen pushing Ricciardo to sixth. The Q2 flag flew and the list of eliminations comprised of Hulkenberg, Button, Kvyat, Grosjean, Magnussen and Gutierrez.

The top ten fastest in Q2 were 1 Hamilton; 2 Rosberg; 3 Verstappen; 4 Raikkonen; 5 Ricciardo; 6 Vettel; 7 Perez; 8 Bottas; 9 Sainz and 10 Alonso.

Hamilton was the first man to head out in Q3 again, followed by Rosberg – both cars were on fresh soft tires. The Brit suffered a huge lock-up at turn 10 and posted a slower time than Q2 on 1m23.277s. Rosberg’s time of 1m22.475s gave him a provisional pole as Verstappen, Raikkonen and Vettel made their way into the track.

Verstappen was on fire, he split the two Mercedes cars for an early P2, Vettel went fourth leading Raikkonen who also suffered a slide on his flier lap. The chequered flag flew and Hamilton set the fastest time on 1m22.000s to claim pole leading Rosberg, Ricciardo and Verstappen. The Ferraris claimed fifth and sixth with Raikkonen ahead of Vettel.

Previous articleG-Wagon Builders Magna Steyr to Build BMW-Toyota Roadster
Next articleBMW to Build Porsche 911 Competitor with Next-Gen 6-Series

You may also likeMORE FROM AUTHOR

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here