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BARCELONA, Spain — Heading into the 2024 Formula One season, many people expected Max Verstappen to continue his dominant reign. And while he has spent the year at the top of the standings, the margins are shrinking as the competition closes in.
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Lando Norris secured pole position for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix, besting the Dutchman’s fastest Q3 time by 0.02 seconds. The McLaren driver nailed a perfect lap in the final moments of Saturday’s qualifying session, and he’s now the fourth driver in as many race weekends to qualify P1. It’s the good news that the team needed after a fire was detected inside their hospitality unit before FP3 began. The one McLaren team member who was “taken to hospital as a precaution” has also been discharged.
Behind Norris and Verstappen, it gets a bit more interesting. Lewis Hamilton qualified P3, his highest starting position this season, and will be alongside teammate George Russell. Then, it’s an all-Ferrari third row and an all-Alpine fourth row after Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon secured the team’s first double Q3 advancement.
Others, though, struggled. Williams saw both drivers qualify at the bottom, and Logan Sargeant was handed a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. Sergio Pérez qualified eighth but received a three-place grid penalty after the Canadian GP. He will line up outside of the top 10. Neither Aston Martin escaped Q2.
Given how close each session has been this weekend, we could be in for a good Spanish GP. Here are the storylines we’re keeping an eye on heading into Sunday.
Norris turns McLaren’s day around after hospitality fire
Stood in the middle of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in his white ankle socks not long before the start of final practice, pole position would have been the furthest thing from Norris’s mind.
A fire prompted a hasty evacuation of the McLaren team hospitality unit. The track fire marshals dealt with the situation, and there were no major injuries. Only one McLaren team member was taken to hospital as a precaution before being discharged shortly after the end of qualifying.
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McLaren had to rethink its preparations with the motorhome out of use for the rest of today (and likely tomorrow). Its engineering unit was given over to the drivers to use as their personal rooms, even if they didn’t have all their usual equipment or kit to hand. Norris usually likes to listen to music before getting in the car and having a bit of time to himself, but he didn’t have that same downtime ahead of today’s sessions — not that it impacted him in the end.
Norris admitted the day had been “a bit messy” but said he was proud of how the paddock had come together to support McLaren in a tough time. “Nothing’s been an issue,” Norris said. “I’ve never been the guy to complain about these kinds of things.”
His final lap in Q3 was, frankly, stunning. Norris repeatedly said he thought it was the best pole lap of his career, linking together his best corners instead of making mistakes here and there. Given Verstappen’s step in pace through Q2, he knew that he had to commit fully, especially in the high-speed corners. “I knew for the final lap I’ve got to (go) balls out and do it,” Norris said. “(I’m) happy the risk paid off, and for all of it to come together when I needed it most was great.”
It was a big result for Norris and, for McLaren, a positive note to end a turbulent day at the track.
Will we get the first true Norris vs. Verstappen battle?
Even with the emergence of Norris as an F1 front-runner in the past 12 months, he hasn’t yet had a true, wheel-to-wheel fight with Verstappen for victory.
They’ve come close on a couple of occasions, such as the closing stages at Imola. The Canadian GP offered flickers of a fight through the weather and strategy battles. But Spain might be their first opportunity to really duke it out over a race distance.
“Probably Max is the guy on the track that I’ve raced the least, just because he’s always been too far ahead,” Norris said after taking pole in Spain. “I’ve not had many opportunities to do so. When I have, he’s normally been about a second a lap quicker, but that’s not the case any more. I’m excited just to race against him and have some fun.”
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The Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya’s long run down to the first corner provides plenty of opportunity for some games between Norris and Verstappen. Overtaking can be difficult in Spain, yet it is a track where the drivers can most certainly race. With degradation always high on the abrasive surface, tire management and strategy could be decisive in their fight at the front.
“It’s still a bit unknown where we are, like all of us, in terms of pure pace in the long runs,” said Verstappen. “I’m hoping, of course, it’s going to be all very close like it has been in the last few races.”
The closeness of qualifying is the surest sign yet that Red Bull’s early-season advantage has shrunk. Verstappen’s impressive long run pace on Friday means he’s certainly in the fight, yet he knows just how hard a competitor Norris can be.
We’re yet to see the camaraderie between Norris and Verstappen truly get tested in a battle at the front. Sunday’s race is the best chance yet of that unfolding.
Is Mercedes back?
It’s an all-Silver Arrows second row, but Hamilton feels it’ll be difficult to challenge Norris and Verstappen for the win.
Mercedes has made significant progress over the season. The W15 is slowly “crafting into a racing machine that we can hopefully fight the guys at the front (with),” Hamilton said after qualifying third. But he was still three-tenths of a second off of Norris’s pole position time. That’s still a decent chunk of time, but Hamilton feels it shows Mercedes is heading in the right direction with its car.
With a few tracks under their belts where the Silver Arrows have been more competitive, the uptick in performance may not be a false alarm. Russell, who qualified fourth, said he’s “standing here with a lot of pride at what the team has achieved, but it’s been a hell of a lot of work to bring this turnaround and bringing these upgrades consistently a race or two earlier than planned.”
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Both Ferraris are behind Hamilton and Russell and brought upgrades this weekend. When asked if he felt he could fight for a podium finish, Hamilton said, “I think their long pace looks quite strong. So I think it’s more working together as a team and trying to hold position at least. If we happen to have more pace available to us and we’re able to hold on to these guys, then it’s game on. But we really won’t know until tomorrow.”
Tire degradation is a significant factor at this track, he noted. “And when you have a really good rear end, you can save your balance, but you can save the rear tires.”
Even with upgrades, Ferrari doesn’t look like a threat
Ferrari came into the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with its tail up. It brought several updates for the SF-24 that it hoped would give it an edge in the tight battle at the front, offering a step in performance similar to what it enjoyed at Imola.
So Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz qualifying fifth and sixth was disappointing. Both drivers appeared to be in contention through the early part of qualifying, with Leclerc bouncing back from a difficult Friday when he didn’t feel at ease with his car. But the pace wasn’t there when it mattered at the end of the session.
Yes, they were only three-and-a-half tenths off pole, but Leclerc didn’t see that as a good thing, admitting the team was further away than they’d anticipated. “It’s not really an encouragement,” he said. “Now there are two cars in front by three-and-a-half tenths, so today it’s not really encouraging for us.”
Leclerc hopes the changes made to his car between Friday and Saturday will pay off in the race. He felt more comfortable but simply wasn’t quick enough. The same was true for Sainz, who will lead home hopes from sixth place on the grid in what will likely be his last chance for at least a couple of years of standing on the podium at his home grand prix for the first time. Fernando Alonso, the other Spaniard on the grid, starts 10th for Aston Martin.
Ferrari may feel it has made a step forward with its Spain upgrades, but it’s all relative. In qualifying, it simply wasn’t quick enough to fight Red Bull, McLaren, or Mercedes. Now, it’s about turning that around to get back in contention on Sunday, especially after its double DNF in Canada.
A prime opportunity for Alpine
Both Alpines lining up in the top 10 for Sunday’s race is surprising. Even Gasly said the team “definitely didn’t expect to have a Q3 car,” and Ocon called it “very unexpected.”
“Since (Friday), there was some performance, and even today, it was a very clean session,” Gasly said Saturday. “Looking at the gaps, we’re only a tenth and a half from Lewis, and even Carlos — Ferrari managed to win a race not a long time ago. I must say it’s very strange, but we take it. It was a good quali, and I think a very big, good boost of motivation for the team.”
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It’s no secret that the Enstone-based team started the season poorly, but it has slowly gained. Ocon secured a point in Miami, and so did Gasly in Monaco. In Montreal, the two drivers claimed double points finishes, launching Alpine ahead of Williams in the constructor standings. Now, the team sits just two points behind Haas.
While Alpine needs to analyze the data to see why the car performed as well as it did on Saturday, a larger topic looms: the driver relationship. Ocon collided with Gasly early in the Monaco Grand Prix, and in Canada, the team instructed Ocon to let Gasly pass to chase down Daniel Ricciardo. But by the time Gasly was let by, Ricciardo was too far ahead.
The teammates will start side by side on Sunday. Considering the points at stake, Gasly and Ocon must keep it clean. Ocon said, “How many times have we started together? It has happened once every 30 times. I don’t expect anything tomorrow.” Gasly, though, felt differently when asked if he expected a team discussion on Saturday night.
“I think we should, based on the recent events,” Gasly said. “As a team, it would be normal, but as a professional, I know what I’ve got to do and always kept it very clean – and I always keep it clean.”
(Lead image of Lando Norris and Max Verstappen: Rudy Carezzevoli, Clive Rose – Formula 1 via Getty Images)