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Tag: Lando Norris
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Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Verstappen; Hamilton takes p3
Singapore, 21 Sept. 2024: Lando Norris took his fifth pole of 2024 in Singapore, beating championship leader Max Verstappen by just over two tenths of a second as Ferrari endured a tough outing with Carlos Sainz crashing at the start of Q3 and Charles Leclerc having his final lap time deleted for a track limits infringement. Lewis Hamilton was third for Mercedes.
“It was tough,” said Norris afterwards. “Especially through qualifying, I was finding it a little difficult to progress much and to get a lot of lap time and all the guys around seemed to get quicker and quicker, so it put me under a little bit more pressure, and especially with just one lap at the end. But it was good enough for pole. I’m happy with that, especially here in Singapore. So a good feeling. I felt good all weekend. I felt confident. Maybe not so much in quali, but we got the job done.”
In Q1, Norris took top spot with a lap of 1:30.724 ahead of Leclerc. Oscar Piastri took third ahead of Sainz and Alex Albon. With 12 minutes left in the session, Verstappen at last joined the action but it proved worth the wait as he jumped from the bottom of the table to P2 thanks to a lap of 1:30.854, 0.130s off Norris. Leclerc then found slightly more time on his second run to demote the Dutchman to third.
With three minutes left the final runs got underway and Norris immediately tightened his grip on P1 with a lap of 1:30.002 on used tyres. Verstappen also bolted on a new set of C5s and he lit up the timing screens as he jumped from P8 to P2 at the flag. The Dutchman went through to Q2 just 0.155s behind Norris. Piastri took third ahead of Hamilton.
There was no place in the second session for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian was eliminated in P16, just over a tenth off Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. Behind Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll exited in P17 ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and the Sauber’s of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
At the start of Q2 Verstappen took P1 with a lap of 1:30.371, but a snap in the final corner sent him over the kerbs and his time was subsequently deleted for track limits. It was left to Hamilton to lead the way with a lap of 1:29.929, 0.078 ahead of Norris and with George Russell in third place in the other Mercedes.
With six minutes left on the clock, Verstappen headed out for a final run on a largely clear track and thanks to a strong lap of 1:29.680 and a purple middle sector the Dutchman jumped to top spot, 0.289s clear of Hamilton. Piastri had pace in hand, however, and he bumped the Dutchman back to P2 as he claimed top spot with a lap of 1:29.640. Leclerc slotted into third ahead of Hamilton and Norris, who backed out of his final run.
Outside the top 10, Williams pair Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were eliminated in P11 and P12 respectively, ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen dropped out in P14 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon.
At the start of the top-10 shootout, Verstappen was one of the first out on track and the Dutchman posted a lap of 1:29.791. However, just as he was coming to final corners, ahead of him on track Carlos Sainz lost control in the final corner and slid backwards into the wall. Verstappen slowed and crossed the line before the red flag, but with double yellows already in place, his time was deleted.
The red flag for Sainz meant that the only drivers to put times on board were Piastri, who took P1 on 1:30.037 and Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, who was eight tenths off the McLaren. The rest were faced with a single run for glory.
And in the final runs Norris was imperious. The McLaren drivers were first on track and Norris established what became an unbeatable benchmark of 1:29.525 ahead of Piastri. Behind them, Leclerc had his lap time deleted as Hülkenberg took P3, and then Hamilton vaulted to the front row on a time of 1:29.841.
It was left to Verstappen to challenge Norris’ time but though the Red Bull driver gave it his all his 1:29.728 was only good enough to hand him a first front row since his home race at Zandvoort.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.525 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:29.728 0.203
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.841 0.316
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.867 0.342
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:29.953 0.428
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:30.115 0.590
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:30.214 0.689
8 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:30.354 0.829
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari – – –
10 Carlos Sainz Ferrari – – –
11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:30.474 0.949
12 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:30.481 0.956
13 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:30.579 1.054
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:30.653 1.128
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:30.769 1.244
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:31.085 1.560
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.094 1.569
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:31.312 1.787
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:31.572 2.047
20 24 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:32.054 2.529 -
Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Oscar Piastri as McLaren lock out front row
Monza, 31 August 2024: Lando Norris took this fourth pole position of the season and his second in a row as P2 for Oscar Piastri locked out the front row of the grid for McLaren for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix. Geroge Russell qualified third for Mercedes as championship leader Max Verstappen ended up in seventh place.
At the start of Q1, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the early pace with a lap of 1:20.074. Verstappen then crossed the line in 1:20.226 to take P2. He was soon demoted to third, however, when Norris jumped to the top of the order with a lap of 1:19.911.
Further back Sergio Pérez, in the second Red Bull, looked in trouble ahead of the final flyers. In 19th place and 1.2 seconds off Norris, the Mexican required a strong final flyer and he delivered with a time of 1:20.598 that was good enough to hand P9 at the end of the opening session.
At the top of the order Norris claimed P1 ahead of Leclerc and Piastri, with Ferraris Carlos Sainz fourth place ahead of Russell and Verstappen.
Ruled out at the end of the session were RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in P16, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Williams’ rookie Franco Colapinto and the Saubers of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
At the start of Q2, Leclerc again set the early pace, with the Ferrari driver lapping in 1:20.296 to take top spot 0.032s ahead of team-mate Sainz as both went out on used Softs. Verstappen, meanwhile, had new Softs onboard and he jumped ahead of both Ferraris to take P1 with a time of 1:19.874. The championship leader couldn’t hold on to P1, however, and Norris soon jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:19.727, 0.081 ahead of Piastri who was just under seven hundredths of a second ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton then moved ahead of all three thanks to a lap of 1:19.641.
In the final runs of Q2, Versatappen improved to 1:19.662 to climb to second place behind pacesetter Hamilton, who backed out of what appeared to be an exploratory final run. Norris and Sainz, who elected not to run in the final moments, took third and fourth respectively ahead of the second McLaren of Piastri.
There was, however, no place in the top-10 shootout for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso who exited in P11 ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and the Alpine cars of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
In the opening runs of Q3, Norris led Piastri, with the Briton claiming provisional pole with a time of 1:19.401, just 0.035s ahead of the Australian. They were followed by Russell and Hamilton, with the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc in fifth and sixth ahead of Pérez and Verstappen who complained of a lack of grip from his new set of Soft tyres.
In the second and final runs, the Red Bulls again struggled. Pérez, leading the way on track, ran wide at the second Lesmo and kicked up a plume of dust, which then upset Verstappen who had already gone slightly wide at Lesmo 1. It meant that although he improved his personal best, Verstappen only rose above his team-mate and the title leader will start seventh.
Behind, Norris only went quicker in sector two compared to his previous personal best, but he still improved the first place benchmark to set pole at 1m19.327, a tenth ahead of Piastri with just 0.004s behind the Australian. Leclerc qualified in fourth place ahead of team-mate Sainz, while Lewis Hamilton took fifth at the flag ahead of Verstappen and Pérez. Alex Albon was ninth for Williams and the top 10 order was rounded out by Haas’ Hülkenberg.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’19.327 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’19.436 0.109 0.137
3 George Russell Mercedes 1’19.440 0.113 0.142
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’19.461 0.134 0.169
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’19.467 0.140 0.176
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’19.513 0.186 0.234
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’20.022 0.695 0.876
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’20.062 0.735 0.927
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’20.299 0.972 1.225
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’20.339 1.012 1.276
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’20.421 1.094 1.379
12 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’20.479 1.152 1.452
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’20.698 1.371 1.728
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’20.738 1.411 1.779
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’20.766 1.439 1.814
16 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’20.945 1.618 2.040
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’21.013 1.686 2.125
18 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1’21.061 1.734 2.186
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’21.101 1.774 2.236
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’21.445 2.118 2.670 -
Lando Norris wins Dutch Grand Prix ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc
Zandvoort (The Netherlands) 25 August 2024: Lando Norris ended Max Verstappen’s home dominance with a crushing Dutch Grand Prix victory that saw the McLaren driver beat the Red Bull Racing by almost 23 seconds, as Charles Leclerc claimed a seventh podium finish of the season with third place.
For a brief period after the start Norris’ second win of the season looked in doubt. Verstappen reacted quickest to the lights going out and on the short run to Turn 1 he passed the Briton to steal an early lead and a potential fourth successive win at his home grand prix.
However, Verstappen was unable to carve out a lead and on lap 18 Norris closed in under DRS on the pit straight to reclaim the lead. And with clean air ahead the McLaren driver stretched his legs to eventually take the chequered flag with 22.8 seconds in hand over his title rival.
“It feels amazing, yeah, once again,” said Norris afterwards. “I wouldn’t say a perfect race, because of lap one again, but afterwards it was beautiful. The pace was very strong. The car was unbelievable today, so I could get comfortable, I could push and get past Max, which was the main thing, and just go from there.”
Behind the top two at the start, Mercedes’ George Russell beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to the punch to steal third place, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also gained a place, blasting around the outside of Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull to take fifth place.
At the front Verstappen succeeded in breaking the DRS gap to Norris and over the first handful of laps eked out an 1.2s advantage over the McLaren man.
However, after dropping back from the dirty air behind Verstapen, Norris began to close in, and on lap 15 the McLaren driver was suddenly back in DRS range. Verstappen, meanwhile, was reporting that his tyres were “numb, they don’t grip” and that handed Norris the opportunity he required and on lap 18, with the aid of DRS, he powered past the Red Bull driver to reclaim the lead and with pace in abundance he quickly built up an almost six-second gap to the Dutchman.
Behind the leading pair, Russell was now over six seconds adrift in third, with fourth-placed Piastri coming under increasing pressure from Leclerc and with Pérez still locked in sixth place.
With Verstappen steadily losing ground, Red Bull pulled the trigger on his sole pit stop at the end of lap 27. With new Hard tyres on board he rejoined in fifth place, behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. McLaren reacted immediately and Norris headed into the pit lane at the end of the following lap. And after his switch to the C1 compound he emerged in P4, five seconds ahead of the Red Bull driver.
Piastri was the last of the frontrunners to pit, at the end of lap 33. And after fitting a set of C1 Hard tyres, the Australian rejoined in fifth, just behind Russell. He soon dismissed the Mercedes driver but though he closed in on Leclerc, he couldn’t find a way past the Ferrari man.
Pérez was now coming under pressure from the increasingly pacy Sainz and on lap 45 the Ferrari driver attacked. The Spaniard was twice frustrated by the Mexican’s robust defending, but at the third time of asking Sainz used DRS and a late-braking lunge to get past the Mexican into Tarzan on lap 48.
At the front, Norris was pulling away from Verstappen and with 20 laps left the Red Bull man was 14.5s off the lead. Behind him Leclerc’s battle with Piastri was helping, however, and the Ferrari and McLaren drivers were now over six seconds adrift in third and fourth respectively.
On lap 55, Mercedes pitted Russell for a set of used Soft tyres, with the Mercedes driver charged with using the pace of the C3 tyres to haul his way back past Pérez, who had been boosted to sixth again. The gamble failed to pay off, however, and both two-stopping Mercedes drivers soon found their Soft tyres going off.
At the front, Norris was in cruise control and after 72 largely smooth and comfortable laps the Briton powered past the chequered flag to take the second win of his career. The victory and the point for the fastest lap he set on the final tour, mean that Norris now has 225 points, 70 behind championship leader Verstappen.
Behind the top two, Leclerc kept Piastri at bay to take his seventh podium finish of 2024. Sainz took fifth for Ferrari and Pérez held firm in sixth to Red Bull’s overall points tally to 434, 30 clear of McLaren with Ferrari a further 34 points back in third. Behind Pérez, Russell led home team-mate Hamilton, Pierre Gasly secured ninth for Alpine and the final point went to Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Race
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 72 1:30’45.519
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 72 1:31’08.415 22.896
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 72 1:31’10.958 25.439
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 72 1:31’12.856 27.337
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 72 1:31’17.656 32.137
6 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 72 1:31’25.061 39.542
7 George Russell Mercedes 72 1:31’30.136 44.617
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 72 1:31’35.118 49.599
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1:30’54.123 1 lap /8.604
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 71 1:30’59.052 1 lap /13.533
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 1:31’04.733 1 lap /19.214
12 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1:31’06.586 1 lap /21.067
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 71 1:31’11.231 1 lap /25.712
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 71 1:31’26.230 1 lap /40.711
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1:31’32.397 1 lap /46.878
16 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 71 1:31’50.058 1 lap /1’04.539
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 71 1:31’50.665 1 lap /1’05.146
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1:31’51.226 1 lap /1’05.707
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 1:30’48.767 2 laps /3.248
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 1:31’21.538 2 laps /36.019 -
Norris takes pole ahead of Verstappen for Dutch GP
Zandvoort (the Netherlands), 24 August 2024: Lando Norris delivered a blistering final flying lap in qualifying at Zandvoort to deny home hero Max Verstappen a fourth straight Dutch Grand pole position. Oscar Piastri finished third in the closely contested session and will start ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell on the second row of the grid.
At the start of Q1 it was Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll who was quickly into the groove, with the Canadian taking top spot ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton then eclipsed all three as Norris appeared for the first time in P2 ahead of Verstappen.
In the closing stages Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz jumped to P1 and was then displaced by Mercedes’ George Russell. Further back, Pérez was on track and seeking a significant improvement in order jump up from P16 and out of the drop zone. The Mexican made the most of the improving track and in the final moments he vaulted to top spot with a lap of 1:11.006, 0.043s ahead of Russell and more than three tenths clear of Sainz.
Ruled out at the end of Q1 were RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in P16, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, the Kick Sauber cars of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, and Sargeant who failed to make it out on track in Q1 following a heavy crash in FP3.
Sainz and Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc were first out on track at the start of Q2 and it was Leclerc who set the early pace on 1:11.665, just under two tenths of his team-mate. Piastri moved to the top of the order with his first flyer of 1:10.505 a second clear of Leclerc but the Australian was edged out of top spot by Norris who posted a time of 1:10.496. And when Russell slotted into third place, Verstappen’s first flyer of 1:10.811 left him in fourth place.
Comfortable with their opening runs, the top four drivers chose to sit out the final flyers and it was only Verstappen’s confidence that was dented, with the Dutchman demoted to P8 as Stroll claimed P4 ahead of Pérez, Leclerc and Williams’ Alex Albon.
The big fallers at this stage were Sainz and Hamilton who exited in the session in 11th and 12h respectively, ahead of fellow fallers Yuki Tsunoda of RB and the Haas pairing of Hülkenberg and Magnussen.
At the start of Q3, it was Norris who seized provisional pole, with the McLaren driver setting a benchmark of 1:10.074, 0.119s clear of Piastri. Verstappen, who hit the kerbs hard enough in Turns 11 and 12 to ask for his floor to be checked on his return to the garage, took third place 0.148s off Norris’ P1 time.
Verstappen then sent the Dutch fans wild with a final flyer that sent him to top of the order, but Norris had pace in hand and after a session-best sector 1 time the McLaren driver delivered improvements in the final sectors to claim pole a significant three tenths ahead of Verstappen.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:09.673 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:10.029 0.356 0.511
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.172 0.499 0.716
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.244 0.571 0.820
5 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:10.416 0.743 1.066
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:10.582 0.909 1.305
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.633 0.960 1.378
8 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:10.653 0.980 1.407
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:10.857 1.184 1.699
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:10.977 1.304 1.872
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:10.914 1.241 1.781
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:10.948 1.275 1.830
13 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:10.955 1.282 1.840
14 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:11.215 1.542 2.213
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:11.295 1.622 2.328
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:11.943 2.270 3.258
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:11.995 2.322 3.333
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.168 2.495 3.581
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:13.261 3.588 5.150
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – – -
Lando Norris takes Hungarian pole; McLaren lockout front row: F1
Lando Norris beat team-mate Oscar Piastri by just two hundredths of a second to take pole for the Hungarian Grand Prix, as the pair handed McLaren its first front-row lockout in 12 years. F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen was third, another two hundredths of a second further behind.
Despite light rain falling in the hour before Qualifying, the start of Q1 was judged dry enough for slick tyres and when the lights went green all 20 cars streamed out on track ahead of an expected further shower. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton made the most of the tricky conditions with the Silverstone winner taking an early lead with a lap of 1:17.087. Carlos Sainz then moved to second for Ferrari and after taking P6 with his opening flyer, Verstappen jumped to third place with a lap of 1:17.287.
The Dutchman’s team-mate Sergio Pérez was not finding similar improvements, however. Sebeth after his first run, the Mexican failed to improve on a second attempt. He stuck with the same set of tyres for a third run but midway through his flying lap he took too much of the damp kerb on the right-hand side as he went into Turn 8 and he spun off into the barriers. The red flags came out and the session was halted as his car was recovered.
After an 11-minute delay and with six minutes left on the clock, the session resumed. With more rain having fallen during the halt, and with DRS disabled, it looked like improvements would be hard to come by. However, as the final minutes unfolded the track rapidly dried and the final flyer became all important.
Verstappen was one of the first to profit and the Red Bull driver’s final lap of 1:17.087 initially moved him up to second behind Hamilton. It was RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who made the biggest leap, though, and the Australian put in an impressive lap of 1:17.050 to jump from 16th to top spot at the end of the session.
Others, though, were headed the other way. Pérez, already out, dropped to 16th as improvement arrived elsewhere but it was George Russell who became the biggest casualty of the session. The Briton was unable to find the same kind of pace as team-mate Hamilton and he slumped to 17th at the end of the session, exiting ahead of Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and the Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.
Verstappen was first on track at the start and new Softs the Dutchman laid down a marker with a time of 1:15.770, eight tenths clear of Hamilton who was on used tyres. Piastri then took second just 0.005s behind Verstappen as Sainz slotted into third with a second flyer ahead Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Norris.
In the final runs it was Norris who set the pace. The McLaren driver went quickest in the final two sectors to steal P1 with a lap of 1:16.540, with Verstappen progressing in P2 ahead of Piastri and Sainz.
Hamilton narrowly avoided the exit door at the end of Q2. With both RBs through to Q3, with Tsunoda in eighth ahead of Ricciardo, seven-time champion Hamilton just scraped into Q3 in 10th place one hundredth of a second ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, who went out in P11 ahead of Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, and the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
With rain expected midway through the final session, the 10 remaining drivers took to the track on new Softs at the start of Q3. Verstappen was first across the line and it looked like the Red Bull driver was determined to take a ninth pole of the season as he stopped the clock in 1:15.555 to take provisional pole. Norris was finding more time, however, and the McLaren driver moved ahead of the Red Bull driver with a lap of 1:15.227.
Verstappen was now under pressure and after making swift adjustments to his front wing to cure the understeer he’d experienced on his opening flyer, the Dutchman headed out for a final charge.
Over the first two sectors it looked like the Dutchman might make it but after going quicker than Norris across the first two sectors his tyres faded in the final section and though he improved, his 1:15.273 only proved good enough for third as Piastri went 0.024s quicker. Norris therefore took his third career pole and his second of 2024 as McLaren recorded its first front-row lockout since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Behind them all, Tsunoda ran wide at the exit of Turn 5 and the Japanese driver was hurled into the barriers. The red flags immediately came out, Norris was denied a second lap out and the session was stopped for a second time, with just over two minutes on the clock.
After a 13-minute delay the session resumed, but with only used tyres available, any improvements were unlikely. Verstappen and Alonso chose to settle and climbed out of their cars. Norris and Piastri took their place at the head of the queue to defend their positions but in the end the only diver to find a meaningful improvement on his final lap was Ricciardo who leapfrogged Tsunoda to take P9.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.227 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:15.249 0.022
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:15.273 0.046
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:15.696 0.469
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.854 0.627
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.905 0.678
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.043 0.816
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.244 1.017
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.447 1.220
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.477 1.250
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:16.317 1.090
12 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.384 1.157
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.429 1.202
14 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:16.543 1.316
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:16.548 1.321
16 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:17.886 2.659
17 George Russell Mercedes 1:17.968 2.741
18 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:18.037 2.810
19 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:18.049 2.822
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:18.166 2.939 -
George Russell wins Austrian GP; Verstappen, Norris collide
Spielberg, 30 June 2024: George Russell took a surprise Austrian Grand Prix victory after a dramatic late-race clash between long-time race leader Max Verstappen and arch-rival Lando Norris dumped the McLaren driver out of the race and dropped championship leader Verstappen to fifth at the flag.
After seizing the lead from pole at the start, Verstappen looked comfortable for the bulk of the race as he built an eight-second gap back to Norris, with Russell in third. However, the gap narrowed in the closing stages as Verstappen suffered with tyre degradation and when the champion suffered a slow final pit stop, Norris closed in.
Verstappen repelled several assault into Turn 3 on the inside but on lap 64 Norris went for broke around the outside and when Verstappen reacted there was contact. Both suffered punctures and while the Red Bull driver was able to pit for Soft tyres and shrug off a 10-second penalty for causing the collision to eventually finish fifth, Norris’ damage was too severe and he had to retire.
The incident handed the lead to Russell and the Mercedes driver seized the opportunity with both hands to take his second career win. In the final laps Piastri managed to get past Sainz to take second and the Spaniard was left with the final podium place.
At the start, Verstappen powered into the lead ahead of Norris who was forced to defend against a challenge from Russell and Sainz.
Sainz then became embroiled in a tussle with Lewis Hamilton and on the run up to Turn 3 the Mercedes driver managed to get ahead to steal P4. Further back, there was contact in Turn 1 between Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and as both went wide, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez swept past both to claim sixth.
At the front, Verstappen began to eke out a gap to Norris. Russell and Hamilton were battling however and on lap three Hamilton powered past, only to be passed once again by Russell in Turn 4. Hamilton, though, was under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his pass of Sainz and the seven-time champion was forced to hand back the place won at the start. Pérez and Piastri were also battling, and on lap 7 the Australian pounced in Turn 6 to muscle his way around the outside to drop Checo back to seventh. Verstappen, meanwhile, was drawing away and on lap 14 he had built up a five-second gap to Norris, who was a little under four seconds clear of Russell.
On lap 22 Hamilton and Pérez were the first of the frontrunners to pit and both moved to Hard tyres. Russell and Sainz made their way in at the end of the following tour and then on lap 24 Verstappen made his first stop, for Hard tyres. Norris came in on the same lap and when Piastri finally made his first tyre switch on lap 26, Verstappen returned to lead with 6.7s in hand over Norris with Russell two seconds further back in third. Sainz held fourth ahead of Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver was quickly handed a five-second time penalty for crossing the white line at the pit entry. Piastri emerged from his pit stop in sixth place.
Midway through his second stint, Verstappen looked comfortable, eight seconds clear of over Norris. However on lap 40 the Dutchman reported that his Hard tyres suddenly felt “really bad”. Over the following laps Norris began to chip away at the gap and by lap 46 the Red Bull driver’s advantage had shrunk to a little over 6.5s.
Russell then sparked the second round of stop on lap 47 but when Verstappen made his stop an issue with the rear right kept him stationary for over six seconds and when he and Norris rejoined, the McLaren driver was just 1.7s behind.
Norris was able to haul his way into DRS range of the Red Bull driver, and on lap 55 the McLaren driver attacked into Turn 3. Verstappen defended well to hold the lead but with three DRS zones available to Norris the attacks kept coming. And on lap 64 the McLaren driver made his fateful move.
The clash left Vestappen with a punctured rear left and though Norris got past Verstappen’s stricken RB20 his own right rear tyre let go and the pair limped back to the pits. Verstappen was fitted a set of Soft tyres and released again, into P5, but Norris damage was too severe and the Briton was forced to retire.
The dramatic incident handed the lead the Russell, ahead of Piastri who had managed to pass Sainz, with Hamilton in fourth and moment after a flurry of final laps, the Mercedes driver took his second career grand prix win.
Further back, Max held on to fifth behind Hamilton, despite being handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Norris Hülkenberg took Haas’ best finish of the season so far after passing Pérez on the final tour and the Mexican was left with seventh place ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who took the final point.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Race
1 George Russell Mercedes 71 –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 71 1.906
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 71 4.533
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 23.142
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 37.253
6 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 71 54.088
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 71 54.672
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 71 1’00.355
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 71 1’01.169
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 71 1’01.766
11 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 71 1’07.056
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 71 1’08.325
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 – 1 lap
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 70 – 1 lap
18 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 – 1 lap
19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 – 2 laps
Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 64 – Retirement -
Max Verstappen takes pole, less than half a second ahead of Lando Norris: F1
Spielberg, 29 June 2024: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen powered to an emphatic eighth pole position of the season four tenths of a second clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris. George Russell qualified third for Mercedes after Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren had his final lap of Q3 deleted for a track limits violation.
Verstappen was first out on track at the start of Q1 and with used Soft tyres on board he set the pace at 1:06.054, with team-mate Sergio Pérez in P2. Both were shuffled back as better times came in and Verstappen dropped to sixth.
However, a second run on used tyres again jumped Verstappen to the top of the order with a lap of 1:05.336. Once again though better times began to come in and this time the Red Bull driver dropped to third behind new P1 man Carlos Sainz and second-placed Piastri.
Comfortable with their efforts, the top three chose to stay in the garage for the final runs, and though there were a slew of improvements the order at the top stayed the same. However, at the bottom of the order there was no place in Q2 for Williams’ Alex Albon who went out in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu who were split by the second Williams of Logan Sargeant.
In the first runs of Q2, Verstappen, now with new tyres onboard, gave a first indication of the pace in the RB20 and he powered clear of the field with a time of 1:04.577, almost a full second clear of Leclerc whose opener had been completed on used rubber. Russell jumped ahead of the Ferrari driver but the gap only closed to 0.491. Sainz then jumped to second on fresh tyres, six hundredths of a second quicker than Russell, but there was still a yawning gap to the championship leader to overcome.
And it widened in the final runs of Q2. Verstappen improved once more, closing out the middle session with a P1 time of 1:04.469. Sainz, with only two fresh sets of Softs in reserve, chose to sit out the final runs, but when none of the Spaniard’s rivals was able to eclipse his run one time, the Ferrari driver went through in P2 ahead of Russell, Hamilton and Piastri.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with the 11th-placed Australian missing out on the top-10 shootout by just 0.015s, along with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, the second RB of Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
In the first runs of Q3, Verstappen shaved four hundredths of a second off his Q2 best to take provisional pole, 0.351s ahead of Norris who slotted into second ahead of Russell and Leclerc who was on used tyres. In the final runs Verstappen was untouchable and once again he improved, this time by over a tenth of a second to take his 40th career pole position with a lap of 1:04.314, 0.404 clear of Norris, with Russell in third place. The Mercedes man might have been beaten by Piastri but the Australian’s final flyer was deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 6 and he slid back behind Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc, who went off at the final corner, and qualified in P7 just ahead of Pérez, Hülkenberg and Ocon.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’04.314 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’04.718 0.404
3 George Russell Mercedes 1’04.840 0.526
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’04.851 0.537
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’04.903 0.589
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’05.044 0.730
7 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’05.048 0.734
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’05.202 0.888
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’05.385 1.071
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’05.883 1.569
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.289 0.975
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’05.347 1.033
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’05.359 1.045
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’05.412 1.098
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.639 1.325
16 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’05.736 1.422
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’05.819 1.505
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’05.847 1.533
19 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’05.856 1.542
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’06.061 1.747 -
Max Verstappen to start Sprint race on pole ahead of Lando Norris: F1 Austrian GP
Spielberg, 28 June 2024: Max Verstappen will start the Sprint at the Red Bull Ring from the front of the grid after the championship leader beat McLaren’s Lando Norris to top spot in Sprint Qualifying but less than a tenth of a second.
At the start of SQ1, after Lewis Hamilton had his first lap of 1:06.416 deleted for track limits at Turn 6, it was George Russell who set the early pace with a lap of 1:06.765.
Verstappen soon beat that, however, and the Dutchman stole top spot with a lap of 1:05.690, 0.074 ahead of the Mercedes driver. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sat in third place, ahead of Norris, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in fifth ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
The order at the top remained static in the final runs, but at the other end of the timesheet there was no place in the second session for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo who was bumped from P15 into the drop zone by a good final lap from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who jumped to P11, two places ahead of the fortunate Lewis Hamilton who managed to recover to P13 thanks to a lap of 1:06.504.
Ricciardo was edged out just over two hundredths of a second behind team-mate Yuki Tsunoda who had a lurid off on his final flying lap when he put a wheel into the new gravel strip at the exit of Turn 9 and spun through the run-off at the final corner. The Japanese driver was able to recover, however, and progressed in P15.
Eliminated along with Ricciardo were Haas’ 17th-placed Nico Hülkenberg, Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Williams’ Alex Albon in P19 and the last placed second Kick Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.
Verstappen and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez were first on track at the start of SQ2 and Verstappen set the pace at 1:05.186, with Pérez crossing the line more than half a second behind.
That left the door open for Russell to take second place with a lap of 1:05.325 and he was followed by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took third ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, Hamilton and Norris, who shuffled Pérez, down to eighth place. With the first runs completed, the Mexican was the last man to have posted a time, with the remaining drivers targeting a single run in the session.
The top four drivers elected to stay in the pit lane for the final runs and with Leclerc, Hamilton, Norris and Pérez all failing to improve or backing out of their final runs it became a battle for the final two SQ3 spots.
And it was Alpine that made the best of the final laps. Esteban Ocon went through in eighth place with a lap of 1:05.686, just over three hundredths of a second behind Pérez. Gasly took the final SQ3 spot 0.071s behind team-mate Ocon.
Behind them, out went Haas’ Kevein Magnussen in P11 along with the Astons of Stroll and Alonso in P12 and P13 respectively, while Tsunoda exited in 14th ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant.
Brinkmanship in SQ3 saw all 10 drivers hold station in their garages until the last possible moment and with drivers seeking a gap to the car in front, it meant that the last in the queue were in danger of not having enough time to make it round to start a final flyer.
That was the case for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari was one of the last in line and when his car went into anti-stall in the pit lane he was halted long enough to then take the chequered flag first as he tried to start his final flying lap.
Ahead, it was Norris who looked to have enough pace to take top spot with the McLaren driver jumping to P1 three tenths clear of team-mate Oscar Piastri. All day long, though, Verstappen had just enough in the tank to edge ahead of the Briton and it was the case once again as the championship leader to P1, 0.093 clear of his chief rival.
Behind the top three Russell was fourth ahead of Sainz, with Hamilton in sixth. Pérez finished seventh in the second Red Bull, with Ocon in P8 ahead of Gasly and the unfortunate Leclerc.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Sprint Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:04.686 – –
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.779 0.093 0.144
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.987 0.301 0.465
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:05.054 0.368 0.569
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:05.126 0.440 0.680
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:05.270 0.584 0.903
7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:06.008 1.322 2.044
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:06.101 1.415 2.187
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:06.624 1.938 2.996
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari – – –
11 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:05.806 1.120 1.731
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.847 1.161 1.795
13 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:05.878 1.192 1.843
14 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:05.960 1.274 1.970
15 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – –
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:06.581 1.895 2.930
17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:06.583 1.897 2.933
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:06.725 2.039 3.152
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:06.754 2.068 3.197
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:07.197 2.511 3.882 -
Verstappen holds off Norris to win Spanish GP; Hamilton takes first podium of the year
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen seized an early lead and held off a determined late-race charge from pole sitter Lando Norris to take a third consecutive Spanish Grand Prix win ahead of the McLaren driver, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton claimed his first podium of the year with third place.
Norris made a poor start from pole and though the lead was stolen by Mercedes’ George Russell in Turn 1, Verstappen quickly closed on and took the lead at the start of lap three. Norris slipped to third but charged back in the closing stages to beat both Mercedes and then put pressure on Verstappen in the final laps. The Dutchman was able to resist, however, and he crossed the line 2.2 seconds ahead of the McLaren man to take his seventh win of the season.
“Lando and McLaren were very, very quick today,” Verstappen admitted . “But I think we did everything well. We drove quite an aggressive strategy, and luckily it paid out till the end. It was quite close till the end, but very happy to win here.”
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen made a good start from the clean side of the track, but as he powered towards Turn 1 he was squeezed towards the edge of track by Norris who got away badly. The tussle between the two allowed fourth-place starter George Russell to swoop around the outside of both to take the lead in Turn 1.
Verstappen reacted quickly and as Norris slipped to third, the Red Bull driver tucked in behind the Mercedes man and when DRS was activated the Red Bull drivers moved to the outside and swept past the Briton to take the lead. With the lead secured, Verstappen began to carve out a small gap and by lap 10 he was two seconds clear of Russell.
Russell was the first of the frontrunners to box at the end of lap 15 but the Mercedes driver’s switch to Mediums was slowed by a problem with the right rear wheel and he dropped to seventh place.
Verstappen made his first stop, also for Mediums, on lap 18 and after a 1.9s halt and he rejoined in fourth, behind Norris, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri who had yet to stop. Verstappen quickly reeled in Piastri and on lap 21 he powered past the McLaren to take P3, just over seven seconds behind Leclerc.
Norris, though, was trying to eke out a tyre advantage over the Mercedes driver and Verstappen and when he pitted at the end of lap 24 for Medium tyres he emerged in P6 behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Leclerc was the last of the leaders to pit and once all the frontrunners settled into their second stint, Verstappen took the lead once more, almost six seconds clear of Russell, with Hamilton in third ahead of Sainz and Norris.
Norris had fresh tyres, however, and on lap 27 he used DRS to power past Sainz to take fourth place, nine seconds behind race leader Verstappen. The McLaren driver’s next target was Hamilton and he powered past the Mercedes under DRS on lap 32. Then after a lap-long battle with Russell on lap 35, Norris at last muscled his way through to take P2, nine seconds behind Verstappen.
Norris then began to close in on Verstappen, and as the race hit two thirds distance the gap shrank to below five seconds. The race leader made his second visit to the pit lane on lap 44 and after a good 2.8s switch for new Soft tyres Verstappen rejoined in third place, behind Leclerc.
Norris, in the lead and in clear air, was told it was his chance to build a gap and over the following laps the McLaren driver pushed his advantage over Verstappen to more than 17 seconds. The champion responded though and on lap 46 he pumped in a race fastest lap to stay in touch.
Norris made his final stop at the end of lap 47 and in a 3.6s stop he took on Soft tyres and as Verstappen swept back into the lead the McLaren driver just managed to stay ahead of the Mercedes cars to slot into second place, eight seconds behind race leader Verstappen.
Verstappen was told that the McLaren driver was “pushing hard, not saving tyres, all corners” and over the following two laps the gap between the leaders fell to 5.7 seconds and with 15 laps left Verstappen was told he needed to “push to the end”.
The champion responded and over the final 10 laps he did enough to keep Norris at bay and to take a controlled seventh win of the season, 2.2 seconds clear of the McLaren and with Hamilton a further 15 seconds back in third. Place.
Fourth place went to Russell, with Leclerc in fifth ahead of team-mate Sainz. Piastri took seventh in the second McLaren and after a three-stop race Sergio Pérez passed Pierre Gasly in the closing stages to take eighth place ahead of the Alpine driver and his team-mate Esteban Ocon.
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Lando Norris takes pole ahead of Max, Lewis: F1
Barcelona, 22 June 2024: Lando Norris beat F1 world championship leader Max Verstappen by the tiny margin of two hundredths of a second to take the second pole position of his career in qualifying for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix. Behind the top two, Lewis Hamilton scored his best qualifying position since last year’s US Grand Prix with third place.
At the start of Q1 Sergio Pérez set the early pace thanks to a lap of 1:13.090, almost seven tenths of a second clear of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo. Verstappen then lowered the benchmark by another seven tenths as he claimed top spot with a lap of 1:12.306. The Red Bull drivers were then split by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri who took P2 five hundredths of a second ahead of Pérez. And then, as the opening sequence of runs came to an end, Verstappen was bumped out of P1 by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who took top spot just under five hundredths of a second ahead of the Dutchman.
In the final runs Of Q1 Leclerc, Verstappen, third-placed Norris and P4 driver Carlos Sainz stayed in their garages for the final flyers, but further back Pérez, who had dropped to P10 as better times came in was forced to make another attempt. His lap of 1:12.477 boosted him to P8 and into to Q2.Hamilton meanwhile, used his final flyer to good effect, claiming P1 with a lap of 1:12.143.
There was no place in Q2, however, for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who was knocked out in P16 ahead of the RBs of Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo and the Williams cars of Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant.
At the start of Q2, Pérez was the first of the frontrunners across the line and once again he set the early benchmark, this time at 1:12.270. That was swiftly beaten by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and by the McLaren pair of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, but it was Verstappen who put in the best opening time, with the title leader taking P1 thanks to a lap of 1:11.653, two tenths clear of Norris and third-placed Sainz. Piastri dropped to fourth ahead of Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, while Pierre Gasly took seventh ahead of Pérez.
As the second runs got underway, Hamilton who had been languishing in P15 jumped to second place and when Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas also jumped into the top 10, Pérez fell to P10 and was on the brink of exit. Once again, though, the Red Bull driver clawed his way forward and his final lap of 1:12.054 put him eighth ahead of the Alpines of Gasly and Esteban Ocon.
At the top of the order, Verstappen again sat out the final runs and this time the champion’s opening run time was good enough to hold onto top spot ahead of the Mercedes pair of Hamilton and George Russell.
Ruled out after Q2 were Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in P11 followed by Bottas, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, the second Aston of Lance Stroll and the second Sauber of Zhou Guanyu.
In keeping with the rest of the session Pérez was out early in Q3, though this time on used Soft tyres. That meant his first time of Q3 was slower than his Q2 times and he ended the opening runs in P9.
Verstappen, though, was powering ahead and he set the benchmark at 1:11.673, a tenth ahead of Norris who was looking likeliest to challenge the Dutchman’s bid for a 40th career pole. The task looked daunting when Verstappen upped the pace even further in his final run and dropped the provisional pole time to 1:11.403. Norris was up to the challenge though and in the final seconds the McLaren driver found more pace to claw his way ahead of the champion by the tiny margin of two hundredths of a second.
“It was pretty much a perfect lap,” said Norris of his first pole since the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. “You know you’re on a good lap when you’re getting excited but the whole thing went perfectly in the end. So, close, still, but super, super happy. One of my, I’d say, my best pole positions. I’ve not had many but out of the ones I’ve had, my best.”
Verstappen was left with a 67th career front row ahead of the Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Russell. Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Sainz, while Gasly took a welcome seventh for Alpine ahead of Pérez, Ocon and Piastri. However, with a three-place grid penalty from Canada coming his way for tomorrow, Pérez will starts the race in Barcelona from P11 on the grid.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.383 – –
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:11.403 0.020 0.028
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.701 0.318 0.445
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:11.703 0.320 0.448
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.731 0.348 0.488
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.736 0.353 0.495
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:11.857 0.474 0.664
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:12.061 0.678 0.950
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:12.125 0.742 1.039
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes – – –
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.128 0.745 1.044
12 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.227 0.844 1.182
13 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:12.310 0.927 1.299
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.372 0.989 1.385
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.738 1.355 1.898
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:12.937 1.554 2.177
17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:12.985 1.602 2.244
18 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:13.075 1.692 2.370
19 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:13.153 1.770 2.480
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:13.509 2.126 2.978
