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Fernando Alonso has admitted this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix could well be his last race at the circuit before he retires from competing in F1, with the venue set to return to the calendar again in 2028. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has seen regular Grands Prix since its debut in 1991, but it was confirmed earlier this year that it will be put on rotation with the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and will host races in 2028, 2030, and 2032. Alonso has been open about his thoughts on remaining in F1 once his contract at Aston Martin expires at the end of this season, previously admitting that while becoming a father has changed his outlook, he still wants to continue racing in some capacity. Speaking ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, the Spaniard says:
"It’s going to be a special weekend. This is probably my last Barcelona race in Formula 1, so I want to say thanks to everyone. I will try to enjoy the weekend. I will not be competitive and I will not be too long in the car in Qualifying - in the race, hopefully yes, but not at the pace that we all want. I want everyone to still enjoy the weekend. It has always been a celebration when we come to Barcelona. I think this is my 23rd Grand Prix here and all of them have been magical. This last has to be magical as well".
His current team, Aston Martin, have not enjoyed the start to the year they had hoped for as they continue to struggle at the back of the order.
Alonso scored their first point of the season last time out at the Monaco Grand Prix, but he remained realistic about his chances of giving his passionate fans a strong result - such as his victories in 2006 and 2013 - at the Spanish circuit. Asked to elaborate on whether he believes he will still be on the grid when Barcelona hosts again in two years’ time, he respond:
"I don’t have anything in mind. After summer I will take the decision to continue or not. Barcelona obviously is not happening next year, so if I don’t know what I will do next year, it’s nearly impossible to be sure what I will do in two years’ time. I consider every race I go to this year potentially could be my last time - in Australia, my last time in China, my last time in Monaco. Here in Barcelona there is a little bit more of that chance as it’s not happening next year".
The two-time world champion described Antonelli as an incredible talent, but indirectly cautioned those who have made bold comparisons, underestimating Mercedes’ formidable competitiveness. Says Alonso, referring to Oliver Bearman, who was with him at the press conference in Barcelona. It should be noted that Alonso’s comment likely refers to a few individual races in the 2024 F2 championship and not the entire season. Antonelli finished that year ahead of the Brit (who raced two fewer races) but over 100 points behind Gabriel Bortoleto, due to a Prema car that wasn’t quite up to par in the first half of the year:
"Compared to my days, we now have simulators and various tools that help drivers make the transition to Formula 1. I think Kimi has incredible talent. In the junior series, you could say he had his ups and downs in terms of results, while other drivers of his generation managed to stay ahead of him in the same cars, and one of them is in this room. Now he has a dominant car, he’s adapted well to it, and he’s winning races without making mistakes, despite the pressure of leading the championship. Clearly, it’s a great achievement, but this is Formula 1, and you always have to perform at the highest level: if he’s able to win the World Championship and handle the pressure, I’ll be very happy for him".
Kimi Antonelli has opened up on "not doubting myself" this season, while emphasising how big a factor enjoying every weekend has been in his performances thus far. The Mercedes driver heads to the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on the crest of a wave after five wins on the bounce. The 19-year-old Italian has been unstoppable since taking his maiden Formula 1 victory at the Chinese Grand Prix, winning in Japan, Miami, Canada and last weekend in Monaco. The incredible run means Antonelli sits 66 points clear in the Drivers' standings from Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, with Mercedes team mate George Russell a further two points adrift.
Ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix this weekend, Antonelli admitted that while he had self-doubts during his maiden season of F1 in 2025, particularly during a rough patch in the middle of the campaign, no such uncertainty had plagued him this term.
"I would doubt a lot about myself, especially during that difficult period in Europe. This year has been a different story. You mature a lot after one year of F1, not only as a driver but also as a person. I think also last year, during the difficult period, I got to know myself better. Considering how bad it was in the moment, I'm very grateful that it happened because it made me grow a lot and taught me a lot about myself as well. This year so far I'm not doubting myself. There are questions that still need to be answered on my side. How much further can I go? How much more I can grow and how big is the potential? Still many questions that need to be answered."
With such a dominant run and lead in the standings, Antonelli has faced comparisons with the likes of Max Verstappen and Ayrton Senna at the start of their careers, but the Mercedes driver believes such pressure is a privilege.
"I feel very lucky to be in the position I am. It requires a lot of effort and commitment and of course, the job is not done. We've got to keep pushing. One thing I said to myself at the start of the year is try and enjoy as much as possible all the weekends, all the times I go in the car. I feel like when I do so, I'm able to extract and maximise my performance so it's been a helpful factor. Also it helps me drive relaxed and not as tense as I was last year. That's definitely playing a big factor".
Mercedes has yet to be beaten in a Grand Prix so far this season, with only reigning champion Lando Norris coming out on top over Antonelli and Russell in the Miami Sprint. Despite the dominance, Antonelli believes rival teams are closing in with Mercedes yet to fully understand how competitive its new upgrade package is after it was introduced in Canada.
"It's going to be an interesting weekend for us because we will see how the package we brought in Canada will work. We couldn't see the full potential or how much it's giving us because Canada was unique conditions being so cold, and Monaco is unique as well. Barcelona is a more standard track and we'll see better how the package works and how much it's giving us in lap time".
Lewis Hamilton admits never say never with regards to challenging Mercedes for this year's Formula 1 title, with the Briton confident of pushing Ferrari further in the right direction ahead of this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The seven-time World Champion matched his best-ever result for the Scuderia in a Grand Prix last time out in Monaco with P2, repeating the result from the previous round in Canada. It means Hamilton has taken three podiums in the last five Grands Prix, a stark contrast to least season where he failed to reach the rostrum on a Sunday in 24 attempts.
"I knew we would get to this point at some point. I knew that last year was a building year and I knew that if we acted on the things that I'd asked for we would eventually get to where we're going. We still have work to do, we're still not there just yet but the things that I was asking for last year, I've got a car that I've had input into, helped develop, adding things to new ways that we work together. Fred has been great in collaborating with me and it feels great to be part of that and see progress".
The strong run of form means Hamilton sits second in the Drivers' standings, 66 points behind Kimi Antonelli and two points ahead of his Mercedes team mate, George Russell. Although Hamilton believes outpacing Mercedes' power unit this season is unlikely, other areas for improvement mean there is a chance Ferrari could begin to challenge the German manufacturer on a more consistent basis.
"In terms of the title, I think we can still out-do people in terms of how we develop the car. Our car is very good, the downforce package that we have is really good. We're going to have to double up, make sure that we're always one step ahead of everyone in terms of advancing so we can go through the corners quicker and catch up the deficit we may lose down the straights. We can improve efficiency, so we can maybe improve on drag to try and close that gap in speed. And there's lot of different things happening in these different tracks, so never say never and we're just going to keep pushing and give it absolutely everything".
Charles Leclerc has conceded that his retirement from the Monaco Grand Prix still hurts, but acknowledged that he has also got to look forward as he shared an update on the brakes issue that he spoke about following his sudden DNF. Leclerc had been running in the final podium position at his home event when - following a restart after a late-race Safety Car - his Ferrari went straight on at the final corner and into the barriers, putting him out of the race. The 28-year-old could not hide his disappointment in the aftermath, stating that he was extremely disappointed, sad, angry as he shed light on the brakes problems he had been experiencing.
"I cannot do anything. The only thing I can do is not brake for the last corner, but in an F1 corner not braking in the last corner ends up in the wall anyway. I put the least amount of brakes I could possibly do, and it’s not even braking, it’s leaning my foot on the brake".
Just a few days on, Leclerc was quizzed by the media ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on what the debrief was like after his exit in Monaco – and whether there would be a brakes fix in place this weekend.
"I’m not going to go into too much detail. It’s not so different from what I had said right after. Now we focus forward, and we’ll try to maximise this weekend and hopefully get back on the podium and get some good points. Monaco hurts, but it’s the way it is now. I cannot change that anymore and I’ve got to look forward".
Leclerc was also asked about what kind of insight he could share into the situation with the brakes, with the eight-time race winner answering:
"Not a lot, to be completely honest. We’ll do what we think is best on our side and try to maximise whatever we can do - that’s my job as a driver and our job as a team. We’ll continue to push. It still hurts, Monaco. I’m pretty good normally at moving on, but I think this one hurts because it’s also home. Now I'm just looking forward to being back on track tomorrow and driving again. That’s the best way to forget about what happened last weekend".
Leclerc also said on the topic of the brakes:
"The last two weekends have been very tough for me. Overall, I think going forward we’ll change slightly the configuration of how we run our brakes. To go more into the detail is tricky for me. We’ll see - I don’t think it’s going to be a revolution, but in certain times of the race I will expect a change".
Looking ahead to the weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Ferrari driver suggested that he was keen not to place too much expectation on the event.
"I think realistically Mercedes still remain the benchmark. I think Mercedes will still be extremely strong. Red Bull were strong in Monaco, so it’s not like we are the only ones making progress. I’m sure that other teams are also pushing in order to do just that. I don’t have much expectation for this weekend, just because I don’t want to have any. The best thing we can do is focus on ourselves and try to maximise everything".
George Russell has explained how he is simply hoping for normality at this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, amid an up-and-down start to the 2026 season. Russell kicked off the campaign - and F1’s new era of regulations - with a dominant victory in Australia, but it has gone down as his only triumph so far, thanks to Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli winning the last five races on the bounce. Russell’s efforts were impacted by technical problems in China and Canada, and the timing of a Safety Car period in Japan, while the Briton admitted that his own performances in Miami and Monaco were not as strong as they should have been. After another damaging race on the streets of Monte Carlo last weekend, where penalties for speeding in the pit lane cost him a podium finish and left him outside the top-10 positions, Russell arrives in Barcelona with a 68-point deficit to Antonelli. Asked about his mindset heading into the weekend, which marks his 100th race for Mercedes, Russell commented:
"It’s like I said in Monaco, I’m just dying to have a smooth weekend. I’m not asking for the world to give me luck, I just want neutral luck. That’s how it goes in racing sometimes. I’ve had six races. Monaco and Miami, honestly speaking, my performance wasn’t strong enough. The other four, I think my performances have been very strong. We’re stood here and probably could have had three more podiums if things had just gone normal. I didn’t need any good fortune, just normality. That’s where we are. There’s nothing I can change. I’m just super focused on my controllables, on what I can do to keep on improving. I’m feeling good, I’m feeling positive. If these things outside of my control continue then they’re going to continue. If they don’t, fantastic".
Russell was also quizzed on the season Antonelli is putting together so far, with the teenager appearing to have made a significant step compared to his first season at the Silver Arrows in 2025.
"I always knew Kimi was an amazing driver. You don’t have this career trajectory without being a fantastic driver, so I always knew the fight was going to be tight with Kimi, as it should always be with two great drivers. He’s doing a really amazing job at the moment, so I give him a huge amount of credit".
Pushed on whether there are things he is learning from Antonelli, even as the more experienced Mercedes driver, Russell add:
"I think we definitely have different driving styles, but it’s something I saw last year, and I think it’s important to follow what works for you. Sometimes when you see someone doing a better job at a certain circuit, you want to try and emulate it. Maybe it doesn’t quite work for what you need. He’s a super amazing driver and he’s on an amazing roll at the moment. I’m just hoping for a clean weekend and we can take the fight back to him like we did in Canada".
Lando Norris has shared his optimism for a turnaround in performance at McLaren after suffering a shocking weekend in Monaco, with the Briton confirming that they’ve worked to find a solution to their poor reliability. The reigning Teams’ Champions were significantly off the pace over one lap in the Principality, and their woes continued on race day when Norris faced issues with the power unit that forced him to retire the car. They salvaged some points as Oscar Piastri finished fourth in a chaotic race, which also marked McLaren’s 1000th Grand Prix, but Norris was left hoping for a resurgence at Barcelona this weekend.
Ask whether the team had found the root of their problems in Monaco, Norris says:
"We have to be optimistic. Of course it just wasn’t a good weekend altogether. The result for Oscar ended up not being too bad but it was just a tough weekend on pace and, for me, reliability. Obviously not finishing the race was just painful. The whole team, HPP and McLaren have all been on it to try and understand things, fix things, try and make sure it doesn’t happen again but it’s also racing sometimes. Head down. I’m more optimistic for this weekend than I have been. I just wasn’t the most optimistic for Monaco and it turned out to be accurate. Happy to be back here and try to show the signs of pace that we had both in Montreal and Miami".
McLaren appeared to close the gap to frontrunners Mercedes in Rounds 4 and 5 as Norris and Piastri finished on the podium in both the Sprint and Miami Grand Prix, before the Briton then secured P2 in the Canada Sprint - the last time he scored points. Since then, they’ve endured a downturn in performance and reliability as Norris also retired from the Canadian Grand Prix, making him eager to return to the form they discovered previously.
"I think [this is] a weekend where it’ll give us some reassurances and some confidence. I think we’re being harsh on ourselves because Monaco was that bad. It wasn’t even just a poor performance, it was a shocking performance. Montreal was not a bad weekend. Miami was a pretty great weekend. Only three weeks ago, we were very happy. Monaco just hurt us a lot, especially because we won there last year so it was just a tough feeling to go from last year to this year. I think we’re still confident that we can return to a strong performance here. It will be good for us for the rest of the year and the confidence of the whole team to know that we can fight for podiums again and, hopefully not too long, fight for some wins again".
Despite his strong result in Monaco, Piastri admitted that McLaren’s pace wasn’t deserving of P4 and they capitalised on the retirements and penalties for those further ahead to gain positions. With one of the calendar’s biggest outliers now behind them, Piastri similarly predicted a smoother weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which is regarded as a good indicator of performance due to its more traditional layout. Reflecting on their season so far, the Australian said: “It certainly has been up and down, that’s for sure. Obviously Monaco was tough last week. Of course we were still able to salvage a pretty reasonable result on my side but we clearly weren’t quick enough to challenge even for the position we finished.
"Hopefully we can improve from that. Even Canada, until Sunday, was certainly not bad so hopefully we’ve learned a few things about some of the conditions we’re in, some of the corner types, and hopefully it’s track specific. We’ll find out this weekend, so it’s going to be a good test on a more normal circuit here to see where everyone stacks up".
Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar believe there are still so many unknowns for us ahead of this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, despite a recent improvement in performance. Red Bull enter this weekend having taken two podiums from the last two events, with Verstappen reaching the rostrum in Canada and Hadjar doing likewise in Monaco just a week ago. But with cold conditions in Canada and the unique layout of Monaco, Verstappen is unsure how the team's RB22 will perform on a more traditional circuit with hot weather expected.
"Great memories here in general but at the same time, there are still so many unknowns for us that we first have to see how it goes in practice. I have no idea at the moment how these tyres are going to operate with the hotter temperatures. That’s why I think in practice it’s important to get a basic understanding of what’s going on, what we need to do. I think at the moment it’s still a little bit unknown".
Verstappen confirmed that he would be running a new engine in Barcelona after problems in Monaco meant his front row start was wasted as he failed to get off the line, adding Monaco didn’t have the ending that we wanted but life goes on. In contrast, Hadjar enjoyed his best weekend since joining Red Bull at the start of the season and came away with the second F1 rostrum of his career. The Frenchman believes the characteristics of the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit will be more similar to Suzuka earlier in the season, where Hadjar finished P12 and Verstappen P8.
"You go into this weekend, you expect similar performance to a track like Japan - high-speed corners, energy demanding track - so you’re doubting a lot the performance. Since then Japan, we’ve had upgrades on the car and we made sure when we come back to these types of tracks, we’re feeling better. Tomorrow we’ll know more".
A package of changes to the Formula 1 Technical, Sporting and Financial Regulations for 2027 and 2028 have been agreed by F1 governing body the FIA, Formula One Management, teams and power unit manufacturers. The agreement follows discussions held since the opening races of the 2026 season, following concerns identified in relation to energy management under the new power unit framework. The proposed changes are intended to address issues related to energy management and fuel energy flow characteristics and make Qualifying more flat-out while not impacting the positive and exciting racing generated by the new regulations. The package introduces a staged rebalancing of Internal Combustion Engine and Energy Recovery System contribution across the 2027 and 2028 seasons. It includes targeted adjustments to internal combustion engine output, fuel energy flow and energy recovery system deployment, together with increased flexibility in energy management. Supporting measures relating to power unit supply conditions, race operations and the relevant financial regulations are also included. The 2026 Formula 1 regulations were developed and agreed in close partnership between the FIA, FOM, teams, OEMs and power unit manufacturers. These latest amendments reflect the continuation of this collaboration with all stakeholders working collectively to refine the framework and address identified operational challenges. The FIA will now expedite the formal approval process to provide all parties with early clarity and sufficient time to adapt to the revised requirements. The proposed changes will be submitted to the World Motor Sport Council for approval on June 23 in Macau.
No fewer than seven rookie drivers - deemed as someone who has started no more than two Grands Prix - compete in the session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with F1's regulations mandating that every full-time driver must make way twice during the season. The majority of the field heads straight out for the one-hour session at 1:30 p.m. local time, but there are immediately problems for home hero Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard is unable to restart his Williams in the pit lane, eventually being wheeled back to the garage by his mechanics before taking to the track just five minutes later. Williams reserve driver Luke Browning is not as fortunate, with the Briton forced to sit in the garage for the entire session as Alex Albon's car suffers an electrical issue before Browning even has a chance to leave the pit lane. At the top of the leaderboard, Russell becomes the first driver to dip below the 1m 18s barrier on the medium Pirelli tyre, posting a 1m 17.414s as team mate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli is forced to watch on, the Italian's Mercedes being driven by Fred Vesti in FP1. Piastri finds himself only two tenths slower as Russell marginally improves, but the Australian complains that the brakes have a vibration on them before being told by his McLaren team the issue can only be rectified ahead of FP2. Colton Herta, making his FP1 debut for Cadillac in place of Sergio Perez, suffers a slide through the Turn 7/8 chicane that means he clips the gravel on the exit. The American is not the only driver to struggle for grip, as Vesti has a moment at Turn 1 after locking up and taking to the run-off area, Charles Leclerc runs wide at Turn 10, while Verstappen down in P6 is struggling for balance aboard his Red Bull, complaining:
"I don't know what to make of it to be honest".
Heading into the second half of the session, drivers move onto the soft compound of rubber with Verstappen vaulting to the top of the times with a 1m 17.047s, just as Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi goes into the gravel at Turn 7 before rejoining and stating the car is unstable. Minutes later, Russell drastically improves the best time in the session with a 1m 16.363s, as Piastri again drops into P2 with Leclerc P3, the order remaining unchanged at the chequered flag. Verstappen is fourth fastest from reigning Formula 2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli (driving Lando Norris' McLaren) and Paul Aron (driving Nico Hulkenberg's Audi). The top 10 is completed by Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls, Dino Beganovic (driving Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari), the second Racing Bulls car of Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto's Alpine.
All 22 regular drivers are in action for the second, one-hour session on Friday, with seven of them having stepped aside for FP1 as their cars are driven by rookies. Almost immediately, Max Verstappen nearly matches the best time posted by Russell from the opening session but on the hardest compound of Pirelli tyre as opposed to the softest, with the Dutchman's 1m 16.452s highlighting the track evolution of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Piastri becomes the first driver to go sub 1m 16s with a 1m 15.724s on the medium tyre, as Verstappen battles with his Red Bull, which is struggling for grip on the hard rubber. Russell also struggles, suffering a snap of oversteer through the long right of Turn 3 that sends him briefly into the run-off. Recovering from his heart-in-mouth moment, Russell moves up to second, two tenths adrift of Piastri on the medium. Moments later, a brief Virtual Safety Car is deployed approaching the 20-minute mark as Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls comes to a stop exiting the pit lane. With the stricken car recovered, Verstappen becomes the first driver to fit the soft tyres as focus moves towards Qualifying simulations. However, the four-time World Champion can only move up to P3, still five tenths off Piastri's best effort, as other drivers soon follow the same tyre strategy approaching the halfway point.
Charles Leclerc slots into P2 between Piastri and Russell, before the Mercedes driver sets a new benchmark with a 1m 15.435s. Meanwhile, Mercedes team mate Kimi Antonelli, who sits out FP1, is five tenths adrift in P4. Piastri improves to close within 0.048s of Russell's best, before McLaren team mate Norris - who like Antonelli misses FP1 - moves to the top of the times on a 1m 15.426s, which remains the fastest time by 0.009s until the chequered flag. Leclerc is left in fourth from Antonelli, Verstappen, the Racing Bulls of Arvid Lindblad, and Gabriel Bortoleto's Audi. Lewis Hamilton is only able to finish P9, the Ferrari driver complaining that something's wrong with the rear of the car during the session, as Isack Hadjar, who misses FP1, completes the top 10. Lando Norris believes McLaren is heading in the right direction as the reigning World Champion topped Free Practice 2 ahead of this weekend's Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The Briton finished 0.009s clear of Mercedes' George Russell in Friday's second, one-hour session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, despite missing FP1 as rookie and reigning F2 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli, took over his MCL40. With team mate Oscar Piastri second in FP1 and third in FP2, just 0.057s behind Norris in the latter, McLaren look on par with Mercedes as F1 returns to a more traditional style of circuit which is used extensively for testing.
"It's not an easy track even though it's a track I know more than anywhere else. It's quick, obviously very different to the last few tracks we've been to in Monaco and Montreal. A lot quicker, you're playing with the car in a different regime to where we have been the last few weeks and it seems to also be working in a better place in the last few weeks".
Norris has failed to finish in the last two Grands Prix due to technical issues, and despite a promising start to the weekend in Spain, believes more work is required before the car is in a comfortable window. Especially as all drivers and teams struggled with tyre degradation in the hot conditions, with Qualifying on Saturday set to be even warmer.
"We're up there with the people we want to be. It's hard to know what fuel loads and power modes other people are on but I think we're just happy we're heading in the right direction from the last couple of weeks. It's clear that the car is working better, it's probably not working as good as we want still and there's still things I'm not happy with and we need to improve and want to improve. But I think we can't complain too much considering how the last month has been. We'll just work hard tonight and see what we can maximise for tomorrow".
Kimi Antonelli believes that taking a sixth win in succession is not going to be easy, as McLaren matched the pace of Mercedes in Friday practice ahead of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Antonelli enters this weekend on the crest of a wave, with five consecutive wins to his name and a 66-point lead in the Drivers' Championship standings, but the 19-year-old found himself on the back foot in Barcelona. The Italian missed Free Practice 1 as Mercedes test driver Fred Vesti got a rookie outing, and Antonelli could only manage P5 in FP2, more than half a second adrift of team mate, George Russell. Russell had set the fastest time in FP1 but found himself between McLaren pairing Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the afternoon session, with just 0.057s covering the trio.
"Definitely George looks very quick, McLaren look very quick as well so it's not going to be easy. We'll try to understand from tonight's work and we'll try to be ready for tomorrow. It's been a bit tricky, single lap. The window is so small, tyres are overheating quite a lot. I'm just trying to find the best balance, of course with only one lap it's difficult, but I think overall there's still work to do, quite a bit, but I'm quite confident ahead of tomorrow".
With F1 returning to a more traditional track having previously raced in Monaco and Montreal, McLaren appear closer to Mercedes in Barcelona once again. Mercedes Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord believes tyres could be the crucial factor this weekend, with teams struggling in hot conditions and the temperature set to be even higher on Saturday.
"It looks like the pecking order is a little bit different to how it was in Monaco. Closer to what we probably saw in Miami. It Looks very tight between us and McLaren, Ferrari looked strong, particularly with Charles Leclerc on the long run as well in FP2. I think it will be a Qualifying session where everyone is complaining about overheating tyres and really just trying to get one lap out of the tyres to then put themselves in a strong position for Sunday. But equally, this is a place where race pace counts. We may see multiple stops in the race as well so getting the set-up right for the race is most important, even if qualifying strongly will help that too".
Lewis Hamilton has given his take on Ferrari’s early level of performance at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, believing that the team remain quite a chunk off the front of the pack, despite bringing a host of upgrades to the track. Hamilton, who arrived in Spain off the back of hard-fought P2 finishes in Canada and Monaco, started Friday on the pit wall as he watched Ferrari Driver Academy member and F2 racer Dino Beganovic get some valuable laps on the board. When he took to the wheel in FP2, the seven-time World Champion wound up ninth fastest, 1.2 seconds away from Lando Norris’ benchmark, having reported something wrong with the rear of the car, while team mate Charles Leclerc was 0.373s off the pace in fourth. Reflecting on his shorter day in the cockpit, Hamilton says:
"I only had FP2, so it was an unusual one, in the sense that I think the majority of the drivers - maybe not Lando - that missed the first session were quite far off their team mates in the second session. Because it’s so hot, the tyres only last one lap, so it’s tricky to get into FP2 and only have two laps, basically. I don’t really know what I’m going to do with the car, and hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a better day".
Pressed on Ferrari’s upgrades, which include changes to the front wing, floor, sidepods and diffuser, Hamilton added: “I have zero feel of it, so I have no idea where… We’re obviously not quick…
"Charles has obviously had two sessions, and I think he’s four-tenths or something off the McLarens and the Mercedes, so clearly we’re quite a chunk off still, but hopefully tomorrow we can try and close the gap a bit".
Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur, meanwhile, described the day as odd for everyone and good overall for the Scuderia Ferrari, as he touched on the developments added to the SF-26 this weekend.
"We know Barcelona, it’s very difficult to put a lap together in these conditions, but it’s the same for everybody. We had a lot of new elements on the car, new package, different components, which meant we had a lot of back-to-back to do. I think it will be difficult in terms of tyre degradation. We saw today with all the components that the deg is there, and it’s important. We’ll put more rubber on the track and it will probably reduce a little bit, but it will be difficult, for sure".
As for Leclerc’s brakes, following changes made post-Monaco, Vasseur summed up:
"It went well. For sure, he needed a couple of laps to accommodate, but he did well. At the end it was okay, no issue".
Max Verstappen has conceded that Red Bull have a lot of work to do following the opening day of track action at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with the Dutchman explaining the issues that affected his running throughout Friday. After ending Free Practice 1 in fourth place on the timesheets, Verstappen ended the second hour in sixth place but looked to be struggling for grip at times. The four-time World Champion also reported issues with the balance over the radio. Ask for his reflections on the day - and whether he had found the performance that he was seeking in high-speed sections - Verstappen respond:
"Yeah, but we lose in the high speeds, the low speeds, the medium speeds, it’s pretty much everywhere. The whole day [we were] just lacking grip and feeling with the car and balance, so that’s something that we’ll try to work on".
The 28-year-old went on to admit that nothing felt nice in terms of trying all three tyre compounds, but suggested that this problem was affecting others also, saying:
"Every time I’ve been following people there’s no grip. The cars are literally drifting around, the tyres are not giving any kind of grip. From our side of course compared to the top guys we struggled a little bit more with balance, but I think no-one had a nice balance out there".
When quizzed on whether he would be able to fight for the front row in Saturday’s Qualifying, Verstappen answer:
"No, for sure not. I don’t know where we are at the moment, I guess. I don’t know what happened with Ferrari, but we have a lot of work to do".
Paul Monaghan, Head of Car Engineering at Red Bull, echoed Verstappen’s sentiment as he acknowledged that the squad still had room for improvement.
"Max was full of controversial radio messages today. The car was poor in places. It’s fine, I don’t know if it’s that different from anybody else really - it’s not as if we’re miles off. I think he’s identified the very obvious weaknesses we are encountering - it might well be similar to everybody else, and it’s our job to fix it now, or improve it. It will be another high-speed challenging circuit - it has four fast corners on it and we have to navigate them! I think if you look at the Qualifying lap, it’s how you distribute your potential. With the more sustained running, can we manage the tyres differently and are other people doing different things to us… It doesn’t matter, we’ve got to race on Sunday".
Monaghan admit that the team have made a lot of progress since racing at Japan's similarly high-speed Suzuka Circuit in March - a weekend that proved challenging for the squad - but add:
"Our opposition are not standing still, so our measure is, relatively, have we got closer? I think we have, it’s just maybe we’re not quite close enough yet".
In terms of how he judges the pace of Red Bull’s rivals so far in Barcelona, Monaghan concludes:
"It almost doesn’t matter. I don’t mean to be dismissive - what the others do is not necessarily going to influence us. We have to get the best out of our car, see how to operate it best - what the opposition do, I can’t do much with. We can look at deployment patterns and things like that, and we can learn from those guys perhaps. We can see what they do with their tyres, how they approach an out-lap, how we approach an out-lap - all of these things we can learn from, but ultimately we have to get the best out of our car from whatever it needs, whatever it demands, and then we’ll see where we are".
Most drivers and teams are in no rush to head out on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya immediately, the Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez the only cars venturing out to perform system checks after breaking the overnight curfew, as do Alpine and McLaren. It takes until beyond the 20-minute mark for there to be any meaningful running, with the focus being placed on Qualifying simulations ahead of Saturday afternoon's all-important session. The first representative time is posted by FP2 pacesetter Lando Norris, the McLaren driver setting a 1m 16.609s which leaves him less than one-tenth clear of Ferrari's Leclerc as both use the Pirelli soft tyre. At the halfway point in the one-hour session, Mercedes finally comes to the fore, Russell posting a 1m 16.258s with his first effort which leaves him 0.242s clear of Antonelli as the championship leader moves into P2. Shortly after, the red flag is deployed as Bottas finds himself in the gravel on the exit of Turn 10 and unable to extract his Cadillac, reporting:
"I lost my brake pedal".
Over the radio having gone into the corner at a reduced speed. The session resumes with just 21 minutes remaining, prompting a flurry of activity when the circuit re-opens as drivers try to maximise their times with the best of the track evolution. But the hot conditions, with the track temperature reaching 50 degrees Celsius, prove challenging and drivers begin to struggle for performance even over just one lap. Russell becomes the first driver to dip below the 1m 16s barrier, posting a 1m 15.679s which remains the fastest as Piastri falls two tenths short, the McLaren driver heading team mate Norris by less than one-tenth. Antonelli aborts his flying lap having seemingly been impeded by Lance Stroll's Aston Martin through Turn 1, the Italian then backing off on his next effort having been blocked by a Haas at Turn 10, with Antonelli noted and then reprimanded for erratic driving for the former incident. Leclerc moves up to third to split the two McLaren drivers, with Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton in P5, followed by Max Verstappen's Red Bull and Antonelli. The top 10 is completed by Isack Hadjar's Red Bull, Nico Hulkenberg's Audi and Arvid Lindblad's Racing Bulls.
After three practice sessions, it is time for the drivers to tackle Qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the added challenges of low grip levels and tyre degradation in the warm temperatures at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Russell looks to be the driver to beat after he tops the timesheets in both FP1 and FP3, but he faces tough competition from a seemingly much-improved McLaren squad as well as his own team mate, who is looking to bounce back after traffic obscures his true pace in final practice. Similar congestion proves to be a hurdle in the first part of Qualifying too, with a queue forming at the end of the pit lane as teams await the green light. Bottas, hoping to recover some track time after suffering a brake failure in FP3 earlier in the day, is the first out for Cadillac. He is joined by the duos at Haas, Williams and Aston Martin, sporting a combination of medium and soft tyres for the opening runs of Q1. Opting for the latter, Sainz finds himself edging out Ocon and Bearman early on with a time of 1m 18.107s, around 2.5s off the best lap in final practice. It is not long before the primary contenders for pole make an appearance on track and Verstappen quickly blows the Spaniard’s benchmark out of the water before Leclerc shoots to the top as the first driver to break into the 1m 15s bracket. Next up to lead the times is Russell, who also winds up first in FP1 and FP3, but the second Ferrari of Hamilton responds with a marginally faster time before the yellow flag is momentarily waved for Stroll as he rattles over the gravel. He is not the only one to make an error as the two Williams cars also find it tricky to stay cleanly on track - Sainz locks his tyres and Albon drives wide, both lingering around the elimination zone with five minutes remaining. With the whole field now on soft tyres, the closing runs see Sainz narrowly scrape into Q2 in P16 while Albon is knocked out in P18, finishing just behind Ocon. The Cadillac pair of Perez and Bottas take 19th and 20th respectively, leading Aston Martin’s Stroll and Alonso, with the 44-year-old outqualified by his team mate for the first time in 42 races. Alpine are the first to send their drivers out in a bid to progress to Q3, but Gasly’s first effort is soon displaced by Hulkenberg before Verstappen storms through to take the P1 slot for Red Bull. Mercedes and Ferrari then join the party at the top of the timesheets - at the halfway point, just 0.067s separates the top three of Russell, Leclerc and Antonelli. However, a notable omission is McLaren, as their drivers find themselves in P8 and P10 after running on used tyres.
The higher-placed Norris also faces the issue of rear locking, reporting that it feels dreadful as he joins Piastri in heading out earlier than expected to try and guarantee their spots in the final segment of Qualifying. Switching to fresh tyres proves to be more than enough for the reigning World Champions to avoid a shock exit, but the same cannot be said for Racing Bulls’ Lindblad as he misses out by less than a tenth to Hulkenberg. His Audi team mate Bortoleto finishes P12 ahead of the two Alpines of Colapinto and Gasly, with Bearman and Sainz claiming P15 and P16 respectively. With such small margins separating the frontrunners in Q2, it is all to play for as the remaining 10 drivers return to the circuit seeking to deliver their best laps of the weekend so far. Verstappen and Piastri are the only ones able to set a time in the opening minutes, with the Australian going top by posting a 1m 15.176s before the session is halted for Leclerc - the Ferrari driver suffers an unusual snap at Turn 4 and overcorrects, resulting in a trip through the gravel before he crashes into the barrier. Once the action resumes with eight minutes to go, Championship leader Antonelli makes the most of the clear air to tuck into P3, but his team mate outshones him to take provisional pole by 0.091s over Piastri. With the clock ticking down, it takes a monumental lap for anyone to beat Russell’s 1m 15.145s effort. Antonelli manages to do just that, but the Briton has a response ready to go as he goes even faster to end the session with a rapid time of 1m 14.679s, but there are more surprises to come as Ferrari’s Hamilton surges into P2 and misses out on pole by just six-hundredths. As a result, Antonelli starts off the front row for the first time this season as he is knocked down to P3, with his lap just 0.003s quicker than Norris’s. They line up ahead of the Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Hadjar. Piastri takes seventh for McLaren ahead of Lawson and Hulkenberg, who finish an impressive P9 for Audi while Leclerc is unable to set a lap time in Q3. George Russell was overjoyed after he clinched pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, admitting that his performance so far has made him feel like my old self again.
The Mercedes driver suffered a weekend to forget in Monaco as his chances of finishing on the podium - or even in the points - were ruined by a late drive-through penalty, which he was handed after failing to serve an original penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Seeing his deficit to team mate Kimi Antonelli increase to 68 points in the Standings, Russell admitted that he was dying for a smooth weekend in Barcelona, which has so far come to fruition. After leading in FP1 and FP3, the Briton was consistently towards the top in Qualifying and claimed provisional pole. Despite late efforts from Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, his final effort of 1m 14.679s was enough to secure pole position.
"It’s been a great weekend so far - I kind of feel like my old self again, where every lap I’m doing my job and always fighting in those top positions. Obviously the last few races, for numerous reasons, haven’t quite been on our side but I came into this weekend with just a clean slate, felt good and, yeah, just good to be on pole".
Although the Silver Arrows have established themselves as the team to beat, Russell’s season has been marred by technical problems and self-confessed weaker performances in Miami and Monaco, which have played a role in Antonelli winning an impressive five Grands Prix in a row. The Italian settled for third, but Qualifying also demonstrated that Ferrari and McLaren could prove to be tough competition in Sunday’s race, leaving Russell to anticipate a challenging day.
"I think it’s going to be an interesting race tomorrow. Lewis did an amazing job to get up there - I think that was a real surprise. We thought the fight was with ourselves and McLaren, and then Lewis has been really quick all session so I’m sure there’s going to be a fight on our hands. Obviously Kimi’s been doing an amazing job, so tomorrow’s now going to be easy from every standpoint but I feel ready".
Lewis Hamilton believes we’re in a good position to be able to fight for victory in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver set to start on the front row. The seven-time World Champion was best of the rest in Qualifying behind polesitter George Russell, Hamilton finishing just 0.064s adrift of the Mercedes driver and ensuring a front row start for Sunday's 66-lap race. It marks Hamilton's best Qualifying performance for Ferrari ahead of a Grand Prix, with the in-form Briton having finished second in the last two races in Canada and Monaco.
"All weekend we’ve been kind of four tenths off these guys, so even with the upgrade we thought maybe that’s where we were. But for us to be that close, less than a tenth between us, it’s a real showing of the hard work everyone at the factory has done to bring these upgrades to this track, so a big, big thank you to everyone back in Maranello. We’ve just got to keep pushing, keep developing, and I’m hoping tomorrow we can squeeze some more out of this and I hope we keep up with these guys for once".
Ferrari looked strong throughout Qualifying on Saturday, with Hamilton topping Q1 and team mate Charles Leclerc finishing second in Q2, less than half-a-tenth behind Russell. While Leclerc suffered a crash at the beginning of Q3, Hamilton was able to continue that momentum having struggled for performance earlier in the day during Free Practice 3.
"I went to FP3 and again I was easily four or five tenths off, and I was thinking: Jesus, where am I going to get that pace? I went and left the track between P3 and Qualifying - I went back to my motorhome - came back and then Q1 I was first, so I knew I had good balance and I was really comfortable in that first session. Q2 was a little bit harder with traffic and everything, and then these guys did a great lap naturally, and congrats to George. But we’re in a good position to be able to fight for tomorrow, so we have a race".
Charles Leclerc admits feeling very ashamed after crashing in Qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, adding that there was no excuses for the incident. The Ferrari driver crashed on his first flying lap in Q3, suffering a snap of oversteer on the exit of the long right Turn 4 before spearing off into the gravel and making heavy head-on contact with the barrier. Leclerc was unharmed in the incident, which brought out a red flag, and means he will start P10 for Sunday's 66-lap race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
"Q2 lap was really good, I think all corners we were the strongest nearly. Turn 4 was the weak corner for me so I released the brakes and I think I carried quite a lot more speed in, which was okay mid-corner but I ended up on the dirtier part of the track and lost the car. There's no excuses, it's a mistake".
Leclerc had finished second fastest in Q2, just half-a-tenth behind eventual polesitter George Russell leaving him to believe that a strong starting position was possible. This was reinforced by Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton taking the second fastest time, just 0.064s behind Russell.
"Feeling very ashamed of coming here to speak in front of the camera after another what if. Unfortunately last week was the same with what if we didn't have that issue in Monaco. This weekend is what if I didn't do that mistake. I just feel ashamed of not putting everything together on what was a very positive weekend so far. The feeling is back and still optimistic for tomorrow but I should be starting higher up and I don't because of a mistake of mine. I feel ashamed for disappointing so many people that are supporting us. [It] must be tough to stick with me".
Kimi Antonelli conceded that he has been overdriving the car during the weekend so far in Barcelona, with the Italian ending Qualifying in third place. While Antonelli continues to hold a significant lead of 66 points in the World Championship standings, it was Mercedes team mate George Russell who took the momentum on Saturday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, surging to pole position ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. Antonelli had to settle for third place, marking the first time this season that he has not started from the front row. Reflecting on his Qualifying session, the 19-year-old explained that he had not being feeling comfortable so far in Barcelona, a weekend in which he missed FP1 while reserve driver Fred Vesti took over driving duties, while traffic affected his running in FP3.
"Even though I missed FP1, I think this weekend I didn’t have enough pace [over a] single lap. I’ve been overdriving the car and conditions are very tricky, very slippery, very hot, and the tyres have just been running away a little bit from me. I’ve been just struggling to extract the maximum out of them for the whole lap. I think not ideal, but now we’ll focus onto tomorrow".
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, the 19-year-old remains optimistic about what might be possible from his grid slot.
"It’s going to be important to get a good start - it’s a long run into Turn 1, so I’m not in a bad position, to be fair. Then it’s going to be important to really make the best out of the tyres, manage them well because it’s very hot and probably we’ll see a lot of stops as well tomorrow because it’s going to be hard to manage them. I think race pace was good in FP2, so hopefully tomorrow we’ll have an even better race pace and we can progress".
Toto Wolff has laid out the rules of engagement for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with the Mercedes Team Principal wary of a repeat of the fateful 2016 collision between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. After a challenging run of races, Russell enjoyed a resurgence in Qualifying as he secured his third pole position of the season, beating third-placed Antonelli by 0.319s to sandwich Ferrari’s Hamilton in P2. The Mercedes pair previously clashed at the Canadian Grand Prix, which prompted Wolff to review his approach to allowing them to race each other - that was made relevant again this weekend, partly due to painful memories of Hamilton and Rosberg taking one another out of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. Ask whether he would resort to deploying team orders to avoid a similar situation, Wolff talk:
"I think they’re racing for a championship and Kimi will want to show that he’s the one. George wants a good result to say: I’m the one, don’t discount me. Lewis obviously is in such a good frame of mind that he’s going for the win, so I don’t know how this is going to pan out tomorrow. For me, the primary thing is no contact, but they're starting behind each other. Kimi’s going to have a good slipstream - more grey hair".
Elaborating on his ideal opening lap, he add:
"Get through Turn 1 and 2 and 3! Then comes our famous corner, 4, the right-hander where I’ve already had two cars stranded in the gravel bed in 2016. If you think conservatively, you need to think forwards and not start protecting points - it’s like a football team that starts to defend rather than attack. I think Antonelli’s going to be on the attack and that’s fine".
After Hamilton delivered a brilliant last-gasp lap in Qualifying to snatch second place, Wolff now has the added concern of Ferrari taking the fight to Mercedes and potentially ending their streak of winning every Grand Prix so far this season. The Scuderia Ferrari introduced further upgrades in Barcelona that Hamilton seemed to maximise, but he will start the race as the team’s sole frontrunner as Charles Leclerc crashed out of Q3 and failed to set a lap time. Nevertheless, Wolff admit that they could jeopardise Mercedes’ chances of success as he explain:
"Our calculations showed that they’re half a second off on a single lap. Here they rebounded and I guess their upgrade is working - maybe they were running a bit heavier than us in previous sessions. We’ve got to fasten our seatbelts because that upgrade was massive. At the moment in cost cap land we can’t afford to do that, so they are proper challengers".
Lando Norris was keen to manage expectations after securing fourth on the grid for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, insisting that McLaren would have to push like crazy to gain positions from their competitors. After enduring a pair of retirements in Canada and Monaco, the reigning World Champion was optimistic that he would find his rhythm and return to the points this weekend, which was made slightly trickier after he sat out of FP1 for rookie driver Leonardo Fornaroli. It didn’t seem to set him back as he went fastest in FP2 and placed fourth in final practice, but while Norris’ strong form carried over into Qualifying, his first run in Q3 was cut short by a red flag after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed into the barriers. With just a few minutes to set a representative time, he ended the session just 0.003s adrift of Kimi Antonelli and took P4 as a result, putting him in contention for a podium in the race which gets underway at 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.
"The second lap was my only chance to put a lap time on the board and then you just can’t take quite the same risks at a few of the corners, as I did on lap one. We were just unfortunate out there today. Ask me if I can go three-thousandths quicker and I’ll say yes, but ask Kimi and he’ll say he can probably go two or three-tenths quicker. We have to be happy with today and I did some good laps. I would love to fight the guys ahead but the gap to them was big today. If it was like a one-tenth gap to pole, I would say yeah - three-and-a-half-tenths is… it just means they have more grip. It means they have a better balanced car and that’s going to be hard to beat on a day like tomorrow where everything’s about tyre degradation, keeping the car smooth and gentle, keeping the tyres cool. For us to keep up tomorrow, we’re going to have to push like crazy, which means overheat the tyres and maybe do a five-stop! I think racing the guys ahead will be tough but if we have a chance, we’ll go for it, especially with a long run down to Turn 1. Otherwise, it’s just trying to maximise points, maximise our opportunities but not be faltered by trying to overachieve".
His team mate Oscar Piastri appeared similarly realistic about what he can accomplish in the 66-lap race, which he won from pole position last season. This time around, he wound up P7 after being demoted by Isack Hadjar late in Q3, finishing around four-tenths adrift of George Russell’s pole lap time. Prompt to reflect on his final effort, Piastri says:
"It was a good lap until the last sector. I’m not really sure where all the time went away but until that point, it was strong. Obviously very close margins out there. Could’ve dealt with that little bit extra I had out there, so a shame, but we’ll see what the race is going to be like tomorrow. It’s going to be a race of car pace throughout a stint, not just over a lap, so let’s see what we’ve got. We’ve not really seen anyone in these kinds of conditions at a circuit like this with so much degradation. I think Mercedes are going to be very strong and I think Ferrari probably will be too. As for us, difficult to know at the moment".
Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar were left surprised by Red Bull's pace in Qualifying for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, with the pair set to start on Sunday from the third row of the grid. Both Verstappen and Hajdar were within four tenths of polesitter George Russell having found performance with Red Bull's RB22 on Saturday afternoon.
"I think actually Qualifying went a little bit better than expected. The gap was a lot smaller, looking back P5 looks decent but actually we had a really good opportunity for P3 but somehow in my final sector, just started sliding too much and just not following the normal line that you want to take. Also, I think it was only Oscar and me that did the first flying lap before the red flag, and then like 10 minutes in the pits, you probably lose a little bit of rhythm as well which is not ideal in Q3. You want to do a lap, come in, refuel, put new tyres. You know where you lost a little bit of time and go out again. When you're waiting around a bit, it's probably not ideal but at the end for us, it was much better. I went into Qualifying thinking that we would be miles off and just be P7, P8, but this was promising".
Hadjar finished just behind the four-time World Champion and admitted that he was disappointed to end up only P6, with Kimi Antonelli in P3 less than one-tenth quicker.
"Tough Friday, Saturday morning and then in Qualifying, it looks like we picked up the pace a bit. Especially as we moved to Q3. I don't even know how we are three tenths off pole because we've been a second off the whole time. That's a bit surprising and being so close to P3 is a bit disappointing to miss out".
The Frenchman believes Sunday's 66-lap race should be fun, with high temperatures and multiple pit stops expected that mean strategy will be imperative. When ask about his thoughts for the race, Hadjar says:
"Lots of pit stops, lots of tyre degradation. I need a big Turn 1 and from there we need sharp pit stops and that's it".
Following his rollercoaster weekend in Monaco, which sees him drop 68 points behind team mate Antonelli in the Standings, Russell comes back fighting when he hits the track in Barcelona. Starting off strong by topping the times in FP1 and FP3, he carries the momentum through to Qualifying to secure pole position by just 0.064s. He faces tough competition on the grid with the lead Ferrari of Hamilton lining up alongside him, as well as a fired-up Antonelli who is determined to gain positions after he fails to qualify on the front row for the first time this season. As teams switch their focus to the race, it is confirmed that Alonso will start from the pit lane for his home race due to Aston Martin replacing the ESME and MGU-K in his car - the Spaniard has originally qualified P22 so has little to lose from the change. The pit lane will likely see plenty more action throughout the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix as a result of the scorching track temperatures, which are already surpassing 50 Celsius before the formation lap and will contribute significantly to tyre degradation, especially with Pirelli allocating teams softer tyres compared to last year. With a two-stop strategy predicted, it is revealed when the tyre blankets are removed that most have opted to start on the medium compound, with some notable exceptions - Hamilton, seeking an aggressive launch, Verstappen (P5), Hulkenberg (P9), Colapinto (P13), Sainz (P16), Ocon (P17) and Perez (P19) all choose the higher-grip soft tyres. Elsewhere, Aston Martin are the only ones to go for the hard compound, suggesting that they will go for a longer opening stint and try to move up the order whilst those around them pit for fresh tyres. When the lights go out in Spain for the hottest Grand Prix of the year so far, Russell holds off Hamilton with a brilliant reaction to maintain the race lead, while Antonelli, Norris and Verstappen also remain in their Qualifying positions just behind. The second Ferrari of Leclerc, who crashes out of Q3 and has to settle for P10, gains three places on the opening lap to provide a stark contrast to Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who tumbles from P6 to P14. Keen to make up for his torrid start, the Frenchman begins to make his way back towards the points with bold overtakes around the outside of Williams’ Sainz, but he still has plenty of traffic to tackle to salvage a top-10 finish. Another driver who suffers a poor launch is Bortoleto - the Audi man has not quite been able to match his team mate’s pace throughout the weekend and qualifies P12, but is bogged down at lights out and drops to P17.
The first retirement of the day comes on Lap 6 when Stroll is instructed to box as Aston Martin notices a problem with his gearbox, bringing an early end to his day. Hadjar continues on his charge with clever passes on the Alpine pair of Gasly and Colapinto as Leclerc is similarly looking to improve. Heading into Turn 3, the Monegasque sails around the outside of Piastri and makes the move stick to take P6, setting his sights on Verstappen up ahead. Back at the front, Russell has opened up a gap of around three seconds over Hamilton and sets the fastest lap of the race, but it is clear that the tyre performance is quickly falling away - over the first 10 laps, the Mercedes driver has lost nearly two seconds of pace, confirming that tyre management will prove to be crucial. Norris, running fourth, is also beginning to encounter trouble as he reports sliding everywhere on the medium compound. Verstappen similarly claims that he is wobbling even on the straights, so it is not a surprise when the frontrunners begin to pit at the Lap 12 mark. Hamilton is the first to do so, switching to the hard tyres before leader Russell joins him shortly after. The Silver Arrows carry out the stop perfectly, allowing him to maintain position over Ferrari and return to the track in P5. Several competitors follow suit over the next few laps, including Norris and Verstappen, but disaster strikes for Lawson as Racing Bulls executes a 6.3s pit stop, seeing him plummet out of the points as the first stint comes to a close. Despite worrying that he is now exposed to his team mate, Russell regains the lead once Leclerc pits on Lap 16 after marginally extending to cover off Piastri, with the top seven remaining as they were before the stops. Further back, a technical issue for Bottas results in his third retirement of the season with Cadillac, leaving 20 drivers left in the race. Of those, Hadjar is the one continuing to improve the most as he passes Lawson for P10 before moving up another spot when Haas finally calls Bearman into the pits. Just outside of the top-10, Alpine deploys team orders to get Gasly up to P12 ahead of Colapinto, with the Argentine driver complaining that his team mate is not even pushing before the instruction comes through. On the topic of intra-team battles, Antonelli is heard checking that Mercedes are happy for him to push whilst running in third place, and he soon begins to lap around five-tenths faster than Russell and Hamilton up ahead.
However, the top-three are nowhere near as close to each other as Lawson, Hulkenberg and Gasly in a contest for P9. On Lap 23, Lindblad becomes the last of the drivers to pit before Ferrari calls Hamilton back in, implying that they are risking a three-stop strategy. It is a gamble that seems to pay off straight away thanks to a stellar first lap on fresh medium tyres, handing him the net race lead as he starts to post times around 2.5s quicker than Russell. With the fastest lap now under Hamilton’s belt, it looks like a thrilling battle is developing at the front as Antonelli - who has been shown the black and white flag for track limits - closes to within a second of Russell. The Italian is not the only one picking up the pace as Leclerc lets his Ferrari team mate sail past for P4, keeping Hamilton firmly in contention for victory. Despite seemingly having more speed and grip, Antonelli’s brave attack on the race leader is held back by the threat of being slapped with a time penalty for exceeding track limits. He refuses to let Russell escape up the road, but his race engineer is eager to maintain position and warns the 19-year-old:
"Let’s not slow each other down by racing".
While they are concerned about Norris closing down their advantage, the McLaren driver heads back in for another set of tyres, forcing Mercedes’ hand. Russell pits, followed by Antonelli as they aim to cover off Norris, allowing Hamilton to finally take the lead with a buffer of 16s over his former team mate. Acutely aware that this can be their greatest opportunity yet to win a race, Ferrari warns Hamilton that they will have to pit again. Even with Russell overtaking Leclerc for P2, the Scuderia are handed an incredible chance to hold onto first place when Alonso pulls off the track to retire from his home Grand Prix. A Virtual Safety Car ensures that everyone has to drive at a restricted speed and Ferrari calls the Briton into the pits to complete his final stop, seamlessly helping him hold onto the lead with 24 laps to go. When he returns to the circuit, he has an advantage of just under three seconds over Russell, but his fresh hard tyres put him in the best place to end Mercedes’ winning streak. As the laps tick down, the seven-time World Champion consistently increases his lead while Antonelli and Norris bunch up behind Russell, with McLaren reminding their driver that a podium can be possible while the 19-year-old is still at risk of being penalised for track limits. That danger does not go away for Antonelli as, after making it clear that he feels he has more pace than his team mate, he is reported to the FIA by McLaren - they insist that he has gone over the white line too many times, which will play perfectly into Norris’s hands as he stays close behind. In the end, they do not need to bank on a penalty as with five laps to go, the battle between Russell and Antonelli comes to a head. The Italian fights his way past to snatch P2, but there is more drama to come - he breaks his end plate and gradually slows before pulling onto the grass, marking what can be a critical moment in the title fight. Almost simultaneously, Leclerc takes a trip through the gravel and reports that his power steering is broken, forcing him into retirement too.
A second Virtual Safety Car is deployed while the Mercedes is pushed behind the barriers, but Hamilton’s lead is too great for Russell to challenge for the win again. Hamilton ultimately crosses the line 19.5s ahead of Russell, with Norris making the podium an all-British affair. Red Bull adds to their points tally with Verstappen and Hadjar placing fourth and sixth respectively, sandwiching the second McLaren of Piastri. Midfield teams Alpine and Racing Bulls occupy the rest of the top-10 as Gasly takes P7 ahead of Colapinto, Lawson and Lindblad. Lewis Hamilton believes that his victory at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix was unlike any other in his career, with the Ferrari driver delivering a brilliant performance to beat Mercedes’ George Russell. After staying under the radar throughout practice, Hamilton’s final effort in Qualifying was enough to secure P2 on the grid - missing out on the top spot by just 0.064s to his former team mate. It looked as though the Scuderia’s initial decision to start him on soft tyres while Mercedes opted for the medium compound didn’t pay off, as he remained second, but their three-stop strategy played out to perfection thanks to a Virtual Safety Car. After pitting for a second time, Hamilton took the net race lead as he posted a series of flying laps that cut into Russell’s advantage before Fernando Alonso pulled onto the grass with an issue, bringing out the VSC and allowing him to box again without losing too much time.
From there, the seven-time World Champion held off the Silver Arrows and built an unassailable lead to claim a spectacular maiden Grand Prix win with Ferrari, marking the culmination of months of work behind the scenes.
"First I have to start and say a huge grazie to everyone here, my team here at Ferrari, everyone back at the factory, Fred for believing in me and bringing me to this team. I started out a dream last year which seemed almost impossible during my time last year, but we never gave up hope and the team just continued to lift me up. We made so many changes and we made so many improvements, and on top of that I’ve got the greatest fanbase a sportsman could ever ask for. Thank you, thank you to everybody".
Ask where this win ranks among his 106 total victories, he add:
"They’re all special in their own way but this one’s something else. I watched Ferrari have all that success when I was younger, watching it on TV, and as I’ve been racing here I’d always watch the screens and wonder what it would be like to win in that car, and it’s come. Everyone worked so hard for it, everyone truly deserves it, so I am forever grateful to them and this is just the first I hope of many. But great pit stops today, great strategy, the car felt fantastic, and forza Ferrari".
Although Hamilton’s move to the team was highly-anticipated, it didn’t immediately produce the results he wanted in his first campaign, which saw him finish sixth with an 86-point deficit to team mate Charles Leclerc. Determined to turn things around for this season, he and Ferrari have made numerous changes to his engineering support and car set-up, helping him take a monumental step forward and sit P2 in the current standings. Reflecting on the improvement, he explain:
"I think I’ve just been working my way back to my centre and I’ve got great prep. I’ve trained so hard to be here today. There’s so much work that I’m doing in the background, but also again the team are giving me that confidence with the changes that we’ve made, believing in and trusting in the decisions and the things that I’ve asked for, and we’re slowly starting to see it just all come together. And I guess I’m just happy in my life, so I’m in a good place. I love doing what I do - there’s no greater feeling than racing a Formula 1 car. It’s a long, long way to go and Mercedes still have great pace, as you can see. But we’re going to keep working, we’re going to keep trying to close that gap. It’s not over, that’s for sure".
Kimi Antonelli admits feeling a bit empty after a late mechanical issue denied the Mercedes driver from claiming a podium in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The 19-year-old was on course to finish second in Sunday's 66-lap race behind race winner Lewis Hamilton, Antonelli having overtaken Mercedes team mate George Russell in the closing stages at Turn 1. But having just moved ahead of Russell, Antonelli's Mercedes came to a halt out on track, bringing the Italian's run of five Grand Prix victories to an end and registering his first retirement of the season.
"I feel a bit empty to be fair right now, but it is what it is. Races are like this and it comes and goes. For sure the pace was good today. I struggled a little bit in stint one but stint two and three, I felt like I had quite a lot of pace and of course it's a shame because it was like three laps from the end, almost there. But as I said, races are like this, it's no one's fault and now we look forward to the next one".
Antonelli had started behind both Russell and Hamilton, with Mercedes employing a two-stop strategy as opposed to Ferrari, who placed Hamilton on a three-stop due to the hot conditions.
The seven-time World Champion showed impressive pace but likely would have had to re-pass both Mercedes drivers after making his final pit stop. That was until a short VSC allowed Hamilton to pit and rejoin in the lead, with Antonelli believing if he had got ahead of Russell earlier, he might have been able to stop Hamilton from claiming his first Grand Prix win with Ferrari.
"First of all, I'm very happy for Lewis because he's been chasing that first win with Ferrari for so long and I'm really happy for him to see him succeed in that. I think if I could have made a move in stint two on George, it would have been a bit of a different race because, as I said, the pace was very good especially at the end of the stint. I feel like it maybe would have been very close with Lewis with the VSC, so maybe we could have fought but it is what it is. I think also my side, yesterday I didn't do a good job so definitely now a week of rest and then ready for Austria to come back stronger and be back at the best form".
George Russell has admitted that, despite feeling satisfied with his podium finish at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, he and Mercedes need to keep pushing to resist the threat Ferrari have started to pose. The Briton was on course to convert pole position to his first win since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but his chances fell away as Lewis Hamilton executed an immaculate three-stop strategy to secure a maiden victory with the Scuderia Ferrari. Russell subsequently had to settle for second place, which he almost lost to his team mate Kimi Antonelli before the Italian retired from the race, helping him recover some ground in the battle for the title. Reflecting on the result, he says:
"Firstly, huge congrats to Hamilton because I know how hard he works. We spent a lot of years together at Mercedes, so I’m really pleased to see him back to the Lewis I remember when I was growing up watching Formula 1. But yeah, a tough day, it’s good to be back on the podium and have a bit of a clean race from my side. Ferrari were mighty impressive today and we need to keep on pushing. Friday and Saturday were really strong and solid days for me, today was a little bit more challenging. Everything started off quite well, I felt good in the first stint, and then the last two stints it was a bit more difficult. But as I said, it’s good to be back here".
After suffering a retirement in Canada and failing to score points in Monaco, returning to the podium marked a turning point in Russell’s fortunes and saw him decrease the deficit to Antonelli from 68 to 50 points. Nevertheless, the weekend left him anticipating further challenges from Ferrari in future races, especially after Hamilton delivered such a strong performance with their most recent upgrades package. He concludes:
"Yesterday was a real surprise for us in the team, and then the pace today was insane from Lewis. So yeah, they’re coming I think. It’s good to get some points on the board. It’s not the race I would’ve wanted. At the moment, Lewis is also ahead of me in the Championship and their upgrades seem to be really strong".
Charles Leclerc was left to rue a difficult weekend at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, having been forced to retire late on while Ferrari team mate Lewis Hamilton claimed victory. The Monegasque driver was on the back foot in Sunday's 66-lap race having crashed in Q3 which put him only P10 on the grid, although Leclerc was able to move up to seventh on the opening lap. He soon passed McLaren's Oscar Piastri but found himself unable to make any further progress from P6 as the race entered its final stages. But a mechanical issue sent the Ferrari driver off into the gravel on the exit of Turn 2 with just a handful of laps remaining, forcing Leclerc to crawl back to the pits before retiring.
"It's not only power steering, in general I had no brakes, no power steering, no shifts, so I guess it's something with the hydraulic there. I don't know yet exactly what happened".
Leclerc's difficult Sunday was in stark contrast to Hamilton's, with the seven-time World Champion taking his first GP victory for Ferrari having utilised a three-stop strategy against the two stops employed by Mercedes. It means Hamilton has finished on the podium in the last three Grands Prix, while Leclerc has not stood on the rostrum since Japan back in March.
"I don't want to take any credit for today, I don't think I did much for team. I think Lewis and the team won it on their own and I wish I had been a bit more in front. Been a bit more in the mix of things but I wasn't for my fault. A huge congratulations to Lewis who has been on it for quite a bit and has been incredible. And a huge congrats to the team who is pushing massively on upgrades and we are showing it now. It's good to see this, I'm just very disappointed in my side obviously".
Lando Norris believes McLaren have just got to keep our heads down in order to challenge for victories again, having finished on the podium in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The reigning World Champion claimed only his second Grand Prix rostrum of the season in Sunday's 66-lap race, having shadowed the Mercedes of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli throughout. With Lewis Hamilton claiming his first victory for Ferrari on a three-stop strategy, as opposed to the two employed by Mercedes and McLaren, as well as a late retirement for Antonelli, Norris was left happy with third.
"It was a tough race, I did my best to keep up with Hamilton and Russell but they were too quick. We stayed there, we gave ourselves a chance if anything happened, and we obviously got a bit lucky with Antonelli going out. But otherwise very happy, very happy for the team, very happy to be back on the podium, so a good day for us".
With Ferrari joining Mercedes as the only teams to have taken a Grand Prix victory this season, Norris believes McLaren's MCL40 requires a little bit of everything in order to close the gap.
"We’re doing a good job as a team, I think we’re making good progress but these guys are just doing a better job, so we have to give credits to them and admit that to ourselves, that we’ve got to keep working hard, we’ve got to keep putting in the effort. But the whole team are doing it so I’m very happy with them, but we’ve just got to keep our heads down and keep working, and we’ll be there soon".
McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri was only able to finish P5, having been aided by late retirements for Antonelli and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. But the Australian struggled for performance, finishing more than 30 seconds adrift of Norris and suggesting it was a weekend of big learning for McLaren.
"It was tough, just didn't have any pace. Tyre life was not good. A lot to try and understand from that one and hopefully we can be a bit stronger in Austria. I think we're just lacking a little bit across the board. We're one or two tenths off Mercedes and Ferrari and when you're needing to try and make up for that, you pay for that with tyre life and degradation. That was a big struggle today".
Max Verstappen has conceded that Red Bull need to work harder after the Dutchman experienced a lonely drive to P4 in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, while team mate Isack Hadjar recovered from a tough start to claim P6. Qualifying had left the drivers encouraged by the pace of the RB22, with Verstappen and Hadjar lining up in fifth and sixth respectively.
Sunday’s race seemed to prove more challenging, however, and Verstappen crossed the line in fourth place nearly 17 seconds adrift of McLaren’s Lando Norris in third. Sharing his thoughts on how his afternoon had gone, the four-time World Champion answer:
"Pretty lonely to be honest for me the whole race. There was not so much going on - I was mainly just following the battle ahead on the screens, because for me we were just too slow. On every tyre compound we couldn’t follow, so every stint we lost a few seconds. A little bit tough, but on the other hand also it’s pretty much how the whole weekend was, I guess. On every compound I’m just lacking a little bit, so we tried to do our best. I think strategy-wise we did a good job - it was the winning strategy, so we cannot complain about that. We just need to work harder and try to improve the car".
Looking ahead to where this leaves the team heading into the next round in Austria, Verstappen says:
"With clear areas where we need to improve. The car’s lacking in some places, but at the same time I think also tyre management, we’re still a bit behind when you have the high-energy tracks, so that’s stuff we need to work on".
On the other side of the Red Bull garage, Hadjar’s race got off to a difficult start when he slipped backwards during the opening lap, dropping him far down the order. The Frenchman managed to recover several positions as the event wore on, however, and ultimately climbed back up to sixth. Despite salvaging this result, Hadjar could not hide his frustration over the issue of the launch when he assessed his race later on.
"We just need to work on our starts because it’s not possible to keep going like that every race weekend - it’s the same story. Today was a nightmare, but the whole weekend I was struggling. It’s really the point we need to work on, because everyone’s made progress but I went backwards. The procedure is too difficult, the window is too small".
Hadjar went on to suggest that the team are performing well aside from the problem surrounding the starts.
"Everything else but the start was very good. That’s why it’s a bit frustrating - it’s like the easiest but at the same time the most important thing and we can’t do it. Everything else that’s very hard, we are doing it pretty well. I think the pace in Quali was good, race pace I felt fine - obviously the strategy had to be adapted to the start. We just need the start fixed, and then we can start talking".
Franco Colapinto has lost P8 in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix after the Alpine driver was handed a 10-second time penalty for a yellow flag infringement. Alpine were close to adding a strong haul of points to their tally as Pierre Gasly and Colapinto crossed the line behind one another in P7 and P8 respectively, helping the team in their mission to top the midfield. However, the Argentine racer was noted for failing to slow for a yellow flag, with the stewards later determining that a time penalty and a single penalty point should be added to his record. As a result, Colapinto has dropped to P10 in the final classification, promoting Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson to P8 and Arvid Lindblad to P9.
"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 43, team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence. The Stewards determine that, albeit the driver of Car 43 slightly reduced speed before entering the single yellow flag zone, but did not discernibly reduce speed in the relevant yellow flag sector. The Stewards acknowledge that the driver reacted to the yellow flag but do not consider the reaction to be sufficient to comply with the regulations. Therefore a penalty on the lower end of the applicable scale of penalties is imposed".
Colapinto subsequently leaves Round 7 with one point, marking his fourth top-10 Grand Prix finish of the season so far.