Spanish GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen takes pole as Lando Norris claims surprise third in dramatic session

Max Verstappen takes pole position for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix; Carlos Sainz second, Lando Norris takes surprise third; Charles Leclerc, Sergio Perez and George Russell made early exits; watch the Spanish GP live on Sky Sports F1 from 12:30pm on Sunday

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Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and George Russell hit each other during Q2 at the Spanish Grand Prix

Max Verstappen took a convincing pole position for Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix amid several shock early exits in a wild Qualifying session.

The world championship leader maintained his impressive form to top the timesheet with a 1:12.272 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and was even able to abort his final flying lap with no other drivers capable of beating his first Q3 effort.

Carlos Sainz will start his home Grand Prix on the front row for Ferrari, while Lando Norris took a surprise third for McLaren.

Pierre Gasly took fourth for Alpine, but is likely to be demoted as he faces an investigation for twice impeding other cars during a frantic and highly entertaining session.

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Fernando Alonso, Nyck de Vries, Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon all suffered incidents during Q1 as the wet conditions caused chaos, leading to the red flag being issued as gravel was on the track

Having momentarily appeared to be in contention for pole position after topping Q1, Lewis Hamilton could only manage fifth in his upgraded Mercedes.

Lance Stroll finished sixth to out-qualify Aston Martin team-mate Fernando Alonso for the first time as the Spaniard came ninth after appearing to be hindered by floor damage suffered when he went off track in Q1.

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Alpine’s Pierre Gasly impeded Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen during P1, with Fernando Alonso calling for a three-place penalty over team radio!

Rain at the start of the session created challenging conditions, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc making a surprise exit in Q1, before Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez went out in Q2 as his world championship challenge continued to fade.

George Russell also exited in Q2 amid struggles with tyre temperature, and was involved in a dangerous collision with Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, which is also being investigated by the stewards.

Spanish GP Qualifying Result
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3) Lando Norris, McLaren
4) Pierre Gasly, Alpine
5) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6) Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
7) Esteban Ocon, Alpine
8) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
9) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
10) Oscar Piastri, McLaren

More to follow…