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Formula 1 Spanish GP

F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates - FP3 & Qualifying

Saturday's action from the seventh round of the 2023 Formula 1 season.

F1 heads to its seventh round this weekend and the second in a double-header after last weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen overcame a sudden downpour in the principality to claim his fourth Formula 1 victory of 2023, beating Fernando Alonso by 27.9 seconds.

He now leads the standings by 39 points from Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with Alonso in third heading into his home race.

FP3 begins at 11:30am BST and qualifying starts at 3pm BST.

By: James Newbold, Megan White, Sam Hall

Stopped

Summary

  • Verstappen claims pole in qualifying for F1's Spanish GP, 0.462s clear of home hero Sainz's Ferrari
  • Six different cars in the top six with Norris, Gasly, Hamilton and Stroll on rows two and three 
  • Gasly under investigation for two separate impeding incidents in Q1 involving Sainz and Verstappen, while Russell to be investigated for impeding Hamilton with resulting contact on the pit straight in Q2
  • After trip to Turn 5 gravel Perez misses out on Q3 by 0.051s to Hulkenberg as Russell, Zhou, de Vries and Tsunoda also drop out in Q2
  • Bottas, Magnussen, Albon, Leclerc and Sargeant eliminated in incident-packed Q1 red-flagged for gravel brought onto the track by multiple incidents

Leaderboard

1. Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Sainz, Ferrari
3. Norris, McLaren
4. Gasly, Alpine
5. Hamilton, Mercedes
6. Stroll, Aston Martin
7. Ocon, Alpine
8. Hulkenberg, Haas
9. Alonso, Aston Martin
10. Piastri, McLaren
And that's all she wrote for qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix. If you missed anything, you can catch up on all the action here. 

Until tomorrow and the race itself, thank you for your company today! 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-spanish-gp-verstappen-claims-pole-over-sainz-leclerc-falls-in-q1/10477932/
But it was a day to forget yet again for Perez. After a dreadful Monaco GP weekend, it was imperative that he bounced back strong to eat into Verstappen's 39-point championship lead.
A penny for his thoughts leaving the track this evening!
Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine, Mercedes and Aston Martin all feature at the front.
Things are set up for an incredible race on Sunday, with the top six drivers all representing different teams.
Pierre Gasly may enjoy his P4 for the moment, but is likely to suffer a grid drop for a pair of impeding incidents in the early stages of qualifying.
And a word for Norris. The Briton will start third with team-mate Piastri in P10 - both McLarens making rare Q3 appearances.
Sainz will start his home race on pole position. In the garage, Leclerc must be wondering what could have been.
Checkered flag
Verstappen will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position!
Hamilton improves but only goes P5.
Sainz jumps onto the front row.
P7 for Alonso. That's not what he had hoped for, as he begins to drop back.
Stopwatch
Verstappen is not improving through sector one.
It all comes down to this, as Alonso begins his only Q3 effort.
Stopwatch
On fresh tyres and with his single run of the session, Hulkenberg goes third. He now faces a long wait in the garage to see just where he will end up.
A crumb of confidence for the nine drivers not called Verstappen, the Dutchman was the only man to run fresh soft tyres on his run. 

That said, nine-tenths is a significant margin to hope to recover.
Hulkenberg is the only driver running in the gap between the traditional windows, with Alonso waiting until the close to lap.
Of the eight drivers setting early times, Hamilton is Verstappen's closest rival - where have we heard that one before? - but remains nine-tenths behind.
Stopwatch
Ocon betters Piastri but then Verstappen smashes the target time with a 1:12.272s! That's comfortably the fastest time of the day!
Stopwatch
Piastri sets the opening benchmark with a 1:13.772s, but Verstappen is going purple almost everywhere.
With a new front wing on his car, Hamilton leaves the garage. 10 minutes remain in the session. 

Alonso is still undergoing repairs for his Q1 off.
Green flag
Q3 is underway. Can anyone stop Verstappen?
One minute remain before Q3 gets underway. Russell is now under investigation for impeding Hamilton. The complication is that the pair were both starting their hot laps.
 
Flying under the radar in all the chaos, Hulkenberg has made it to Q3 for the first time in Spain. That Friday pace wasn't a fluke, it would appear!
 
Crash
Hamilton and Russell made contact lat in Q2, an incident only seen on the replays, with Russell pulling across on his team-mate. 
Hamilton has significant front wing damage.
Checkered flag
Russell, Perez, Zhou, De Vries and Tsunoda are all out in Q2.
Perez and Russell are OUT! P11 and P12! Wow! 

One Red Bull, one Ferrari and one Mercedes only in Q3!
De Vries is out, as are Hulkenberg and Tsunoda. Russell is struggling.