LIVE: Spanish GP Qualifying

By Peter Johnson

Championship leader Oscar Piastri was fastest in Practice 3

16:08 Piastri's advantage of 0.209 seconds is the largest Pole margin of the season so far. We'll found out if he can convert that to victory from 14:00 BST tomorrow.

16:07 It's a long, long run down to Turn 1 at the start of tomorrow's race, so they'll be queueing up behind Piastri. This is what the Pole sitter has to say: "It's been a good weekend so far. It didn't start off in the best way but last night we found some pace and today the car's been mega. It mainly came to me in the first part of the lap and in the second part of the lap I could hang on. It wasn't the perfect lap but I'm happy with the work we put in. its obviously a long run to Turn One so got to get a good start tomorrow but I'm proud of the work we've done and hopefully we dan have some fun tomorrow."

16:03 The top ten in Qualifying: 1 Piastri; 2 Norris; 3 Verstappen; 4 Russell; 5 Hamilton; 6 Antonelli; 7 Leclerc; 8 Gasly; 9 Hadjar; 10 Alonso

16:02 Lewis Hamilton springs up to third with a lap from nowhere! He is bumped by Verstappen and Russell, who set identical lap times, but a very positive result after a difficukt weekend so far for the seven-time World Champion.

16:00 Norris improves marginally, but Piastri is flying. Purple in the first two sectors, he goes fastest by two tenths.

15:59 Norris briefly sets a purple first sector, but is usurped by Piastri.

15:59 Here comes Lando Norris, provisionally on Pole and the first of the front runners to being his final lap.

15:58 That was Alonso's only lap in Q3 so he won't improve on P5. He sounded pretty chuffed with his effort over the radio, though. Isack Hadjar, meanwhile, has not set a time yet, so the only way is up from P10.

15:57 Top ten with three minutes remaining: 1 Norris; 2 Piastri; 3 Russell; 4 Leclerc; 5 Alonso; 6 Verstappen; 7 Hamilton; 8 Antonelli; 9 Gasly; 10 Hadjar

15:56 A tidy lap from the Spanish veteran puts him fifth, within half a second of Lando Norris and pushing Verstappen and Hamilton down further.

15:55 Fernando Alonso has the freedom of Barcelona as he begins his lap with the track to himself.

15:54 Charles Leclerc pops into fourth, behind George Russell but ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton.

15:53 Lando Norris takes provisional Pole! He pips Oscar Piastri by two hundredths of a second.

15:52 Great lap from George Russell who slots into second, while Max Verstappen is half a second adrift in third.

15:52 Piastri sets the benchmark time, posting a 1:11.836. Max Verstappen has matched him in the first sector.

15:51 The Spanish Grand Prix has been dominated by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen in recent years, with the pair winning every race in Barcelona since 2016. Both have looked quick so far in Qualifying, but the two McLarens have maintained the pace advantage they demonstrated throughout Practice.

15:49 Oscar Piastri is keen to get on with things here. He's the first man on track in Q3.

15:46 The skies are darkening overhead and there will surely be a downpour of rain at some point this afternoon. It's unlikely to affect Q3 though.

15:44 Home hero Fernando Alonso, a former Pole sitter and winner in Barcelona, has extended his 100% head-to-head record in Grand Prix Qualifying this season over teammate Lance Stroll. While a front-row start seems unfathomable for the Spaniard, it has been a good day's work so far.

15:43 Kudos to Gabriel Bortoleto, who may have missed out on Q3 but achieves the best Qualifying result of his short career.

15:42 The bottom five in Q2: 11 Albon; 12 Bortoleto; 13 Lawson; 14 Stroll; 15 Bearman

15:41 As expected, Ollie Bearman cannot improve on P15. He is the final man to complete his lap.

15:40 Gabriel Bortoleto improves but will not make it to Q3. Isack Hadjar leaps to sixth to eliminate Alex Albon.

15:40 Antonelli does find some time but only jumps to eighth. Gasly goes ninth, while Albon creeps into tenth.

15:39 Antonelli isn't improving on this lap. Lance Stroll can only jump to 12th and is out.

15:38 Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto are both names to watch here. Antonelli currently sits ninth and is in danger of elimination if he cannot improve. Bortoleto, meanwhile, is eleventh and may well be looking at a first-ever Q3 appearance.

15:35 Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 in both Miami and Imola, before his season-best Qualifying of fourth in Monaco was blighted by a three-place grid penalty. He currently sits in fifth, one position ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc.

15:34 All 15 drivers have now posted a lap time. With six minutes remaining, the bottom five are: 11 Bortoleto; 12 Lawson; 13 Albon; 14 Stroll; 15 Bearman

15:33 Charles Leclerc goes third, but is immediately bumped by Hamilton who posts by far his best lap of the weekend so far. Oscar Piastri goes fastest by less than a tenth.

15:32 Lando Norris shifts the goalposts to go fastest by three tenths, while Lewis Hamilton is on a flyer.

15:31 Gabriel Bortoleto sets the fastest time of anybody in the first sector, but falls away throughout the lap to be seven tenths down on Verstappen.

15:30 Max Verstappen is on a flying lap, going purple through the first sector. He snatches top spot from Alex Albon by three-quarters of a second.

15:29 Only two lap times on the board so far in Q2, with Alex Albon half a second up on Bearman. 11 minutes remain in this session.

15:27 Shoutout to Oliver Bearman, whose aggressive approach down at Haas paid dividends and earned him a spot in Q2. However, he doesn't have any new sets of soft tyres available to him now so any advance on 15th place would certainly be considered a huge bonus.

15:24 Further concern down at Red Bull, too, with their second car again qualifying well down the order. Tsunoda seemed rather content with his lap as well, which perhaps makes his lowly starting position for tomorrow all the more alarming.

15:21 Huge disappointment for Carlos Sainz. The Williams driver has scored points in all ten of his home races in which he has competed, but he will have it all to do tomorrow from his lowest-ever starting position in Barcelona.

15:20 Eliminated in Q1: 16 Hülkenberg; 17 Ocon; 18 Sainz; 19 Colapinto; 20 Tsunoda

15:19 Esteban Ocon pushes Carlos Sainz into the bottom five, before teammate Ollie Bearman jumps to 11th. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda cannot make any great advances and sets the slowest lap of anyone in the Red Bull.

15:18 Home favourite Carlos Sainz can only improve to fourteenth and may be in trouble. Franco Colapinto parked up at the end of the pitlane and well be eliminated.

15:17 The track is really ramping up here, there are green sectors everywhere. Piastri, Verstappen and Russell are still in the pits but everybody else seems to be improving.

15:16 A bit of congestion in the pit lane as the Alpine of Franco Colapinto appears to have an issue and has a train of cars stuck behind him. There could be a number of drivers who struggle to get round to start a lap.

15:15 Haas are taking a very aggressive approach to Q1, doing three runs with both Bearman and Ocon. They have been short on pace this weekend so it is worth rolling the dice to try and nick a spot in Q2.

15:14 It has been a tough weekend for Ferrari so far, with Lewis Hamilton describing his car as "undriveable" last night. Both he and Charles Leclerc have been off the pace so far in Barcelona, but with Leclerc currently fifth and Hamilton eighth, they appear closer than they were throughout Practice.

15:12 The bottom five with six minutes remaining: 16 Hülkenberg; 17 Ocon; 18 Sainz; 19 Tsunoda; 20 Bortoleto

15:11 Max Verstappen is running a little out of sync here, with everybody else posting a lap time before he has started his. He slots into second, one thousandth of a second clear of Norris.

15:10 Oscar Piastri crosses the line to put some daylight between him and his teammate, going quickest by a quarter of a second.

15:09 Lando Norris goes quickest, seven thousandths ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell.

15:08 It's a very hot day in Barcelona today, which means bringing the tyres into the optimum operating window will be a particular challenge. This circuit is also one of the most brutal on tyres on the calendar, so the drivers will have to treat them carefully.

15:06 Six minutes into Q1 and only Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Franco Colapinto, Ocon and Bearman have posted lap times so far.

15:04 Haas have had a very all-or-nothing season so far, either leading the midfield or being right at the back at most of the races in 2025. It looks like they could be on for one of their "nothing" weekends here, with Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman the slowest of the early runners.

15:02 One of the three races here not to be won from the front row was of course in 2016, when Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg didn't survive the first lap and Max Verstappen stood on the top step of the podium for the first time, aged just 17. How time flies...

15:00 It is not much of an exaggeration to say that statistically Qualifying in Barcelona is almost as important as it is in Monaco. 31 of the 34 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya have been won from the front row of the grid.

14:59 Welcome along for Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Round 9 of the 2025 Formula One season. Lando Norris brought home a lights-to-flag victory in Monaco last weekend to reassert himself in the title fight, bringing the gap to teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri down to three points. The early signs suggest it'll be those two fighting it out for Pole again today.