BARCELONA. The second career pole to say that McLaren is back. Lando Norris will start ahead of everyone in the Spanish GP (today, 3pm): with a show of strength the Brit even outwitted Max Verstappen, who remained hidden during the free practice laps and was ready to take yet another pole of his career but he had to give in and on the Montmelò circuit he will start the race alongside Norris. Qualifying, those on the Catalan track, witnessed signs of recovery from Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton starting on the second row just two thousandths of a second ahead of teammate George Russell. The times instead failed the Ferraris in the third row with Charles Leclerc 5th and Carlos Sainz 6th, almost four tenths from the first: too much compared to the desire for redemption after the flop in Canada. Among the big names out in Q2 is Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, while Alpine is breathing new air – the one brought by Flavio Briatore – who after Gasly’s already good performances managed to get both cars into Q3.
But the spotlight is all on Norris who, with an applause lap, placed himself ahead of the world champion, who seemed to have no rivals. He definitely expected more from Ferrari. “When you are three tenths behind you need to investigate, because there is surely something that we are missing now”, the words of a disappointed Leclerc. «It’s not that encouraging. Now we have two cars in front of us, three tenths from pole is a problem. Let’s say it wasn’t a good day.” And even from a race perspective, the Ferrari driver doesn’t appear too confident: «If there are normal conditions, third place is at stake. Not the first and the second.”
The starting grid. 1. Norris (McLaren) 1’11″383, 2. Verstappen (Red Bull) 1’11″403, 3. Hamilton (Mercedes) 1’11″701, 4. Russell (Mercedes) 1’11″703, 5 . Leclerc (Ferrari) 1’11″731, 6. Sainz (Ferrari) 1’11″736, 7. Gasly (Alpine) 1’11″857, 8. Perez (Red Bull) 1’12″061, 9. Ocon (Alpine) 1’12″125, 10. Piastri (McLaren) st, 11. Alonso (Aston Martin) 1’12″128, 12. Bottas (Sauber) 1’12″227, 13. Hulkenberg (Haas) 1 ’12″310, 14. Stroll (Aston Martin) 1’12″372, 15. Zhou (Sauber) 1’12″738, 16. Magnussen (Haas) 1’12″937, 17. Tsunoda (RB) 1′ 12″985, 18. Ricciardo (RB) 1’13″075, 19. Albon (Williams) 1’13″153, 20. Sargeant (Williams) 1’13″509
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