McLaren’s Oscar Piastri dominated FP3 and Qualifying to claim pole for 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.
Piastri emerged quickest in a largely quiet FP3 ahead of his teammate, Lando Norris and the pair proceeded to dominate Qualifying as McLaren ended a 27-year wait for a front-row lockout in Spain.
FP3
Hot temperatures at the start of FP3 led many teams to hold back from heading out for their opening runs but Alpine sent Franco Colapinto straight out on medium tyres, and the Argentinean set 1m 15.804 as the initial benchmark which Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto soon bettered by 0.580 seconds.
Everyone else shortly afterwards began to steadily file out for their first flying laps which saw Norris go quickest on the medium tyres with 1m 14.540, although he was quickly displaced by Williams’ Carlos Sainz then Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Norris responded in the 24th minute with 1m 13.869 but Mercedes’ George Russell had opted for the soft tyre and set 1m 13.396 to displace his British compatriot by 0.473s, whilst his own teammate – Andrea Kimi Antonelli slotted into second.
Verstappen displaced Russell with 16 minutes left as he posted 1m 13.376 on his soft-tyre qualifying simulation but six minutes later, Norris recovered from a wide moment at Turn 9 to go quickest with 1m 12.913.
Piastri however found 0.526s to top the session with 1m 12.387 ahead of his teammate, whilst Leclerc and Russell sat third and fourth, ahead of Verstappen who found himself fifth and only 0.007s quicker than sixth-placed Isack Hadjar.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 12.387 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.526 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.743 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.752 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.988 |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.955 |
| 7 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 1.018 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.027 |
| 9 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 1.140 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.250 |
| 11 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 1.335 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | + 1.346 |
| 13 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 1.371 |
| 14 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 1.505 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.517 |
| 16 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.567 |
| 17 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 1.698 |
| 18 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.751 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 1.902 |
| 20 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 2.073 |
Qualifying
Q1
Colapinto was the first driver to venture out and set 1m 13.804 as the initial benchmark time but Stroll bettered his time to go top with 1m 13.699, ahead of Albon, Colapinto, Ocon and Bearman as only five drivers ran in the opening seven minutes.
Once everyone else set an opening lap time, Piastri set the pace with 1m 12.551 ahead of Verstappen, Norris and Russell who were split by 0.008s.
Ocon meanwhile headed those in the elimination zone ahead of Sainz, Stroll, Tsunoda and Bortoleto, but Stroll improved to 14th with six minutes left which dropped Hulkenberg into the bottom five.
Hulkenberg ultimately failed to avoid elimination as he qualified 16th and just 0.011s ahead of Ocon, who in-turn outqualified home favourite – Sainz by just 0.002s, whilst Colapinto and Tsunoda rounded out the Q1 exits in 19th and 20th respectively.
Q2
Unlike many drivers who have been first onto the track at the start of Q2 in Spain, Alonso opted to do an installation lap which left Albon free to set the benchmark time of 1m 13.113 in the third minute.
Verstappen and Norris shortly afterwards usurped the British-Thai driver’s time but Piastri was the driver to set the pace with 1m 11.998 once everyone set a lap time.
The bottom five meanwhile comprised of; Bortoleto, Lawson, Albon, Stroll and Bearman with six minutes left of the segment.
As the checkered flag fell, none of the bottom five survived but Albon improved to 11th ahead of Bortoleto and Lawson, whilst Stroll and Bearman remained 14th and 15th respectively.
Q3
Piastri was straight out onto the circuit and quickly set 1m 11.836 as the benchmark time but as he finished his lap, Norris cheekily lined up a crucial slipstream tow from his teammate which propelled him to provisional pole by 0.017s with 1m 11.819.
Russell headed Leclerc, Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli and Gasly from third downwards, whilst Alonso opted to do his first flier in the gap, which saw him surge to a surprise fifth position as Hadjar instead opted to do a single flier at the end of the run.
At the checkered flag, Norris could only improve by 0.064s but Piastri rebounded with 1m 11.546 to take pole as McLaren achieved a first Spanish GP front-row lockout since 1998.
Verstappen edged Russell for third by setting their identical lap times first, whilst Hamilton will start fifth ahead of; Antonelli, Leclerc, Gasly, Hadjar and Alonso.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 11.546 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.209 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.302 |
| 4 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.302 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.499 |
| 6 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.565 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.585 |
| 8 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.653 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | + 0.706 |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.738 |
| 11 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m 12.641 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | + 0.115 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.122 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.417 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 0.674 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 1m 13.190 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 0.011 |
| 18 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 0.013 |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 0.144 |
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | + 0.195 |