BARCELONA, Spain – The second round of qualifying (Q2) in Barcelona proved to be a thrilling session as Max Verstappen took the lead, while two-time world champion Fernando Alonso narrowly missed out on advancing.
As the session began, Lance Stroll was the first to hit the track and set a competitive lap time. However, his effort was quickly overshadowed by Verstappen, who set the pace with an impressive time of 1m 11.653s, ahead of Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell.
Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, both multiple world champions, struggled to match the pace of their rivals, with Hamilton even expressing dissatisfaction with his tires. Ultimately, they finished in 12th and 13th place, respectively, along with Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, and Guanyu Zhou in the elimination zone.
In a dramatic turn of events, Stroll managed to briefly enter the top 10 after a late push, only to be knocked out again as the rest of the field improved their times. Verstappen, Norris, and Sainz opted to remain in the pits, while Hamilton secured a P2 spot behind Verstappen, and Russell secured third place.
Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon all delivered impressive performances to secure spots behind the top teams, with Alonso narrowly missing out on a place in Q3 in front of his home crowd by a mere 0.019 seconds. Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg, Stroll, and Zhou were the other drivers who failed to make it into the final round of qualifying.
The stage is set for an exciting race as Verstappen takes the lead in qualifying, with the competitive field poised for a thrilling battle at the Spanish Grand Prix. Stay tuned for more updates and analysis from the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.