What the teams said – Qualifying in Barcelona-Catalunya

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What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosRed Bull drivers surprised by 'better than expected' paceBettingOur five-leg Bet Builder picks for Barcelona GPWhat the teams said – Qualifying in Barcelona-Catalunya McLaren will ‘have to push like crazy’ in Barcelona – NorrisPlay1:24GHOST CAR: See how close Hamilton came to beating Russell to pole position in Barcelona 1:31ONBOARD: Russell’s 2026 Pirelli Pole Position Award lap at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-qualifying-in-barcelona-catalunya-2026.AlvzQmFZjMzdrprYSyiAT.AlvzQmFZjMzdrprYSyiAT"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-qualifying-in-barcelona-catalunya-2026.AlvzQmFZjMzdrprYSyiAT","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-qualifying-in-barcelona-catalunya-2026.AlvzQmFZjMzdrprYSyiAT","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-the-teams-said-qualifying-in-barcelona-catalunya-2026.AlvzQmFZjMzdrprYSyiAT","datePublished":"2026-06-13T17:41:22.732Z","dateModified":"2026-06-13T17:41:22.732Z","headline":"What the teams said – Qualifying at the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix","author":"F1","description":"The drivers and team report back on all the action from final practice and Qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9Centre/f_auto/q_auto/v1781360918/trackside-images/2026/F1_Grand_Prix_of_Barcelona_Catalunya___Qualifying/2281396031.jpg"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}MercedesMcLarenWilliamsShow more tagsWhat the teams said – Qualifying in Barcelona-Catalunya The drivers and team report back on all the action from final practice and Qualifying at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Russell was quickest in final practice and went into Qualifying as favourite for pole. He more than lived up to that tag, grabbing his third pole of the season with his last lap in Q3. But it was close in the end – and the challenge did not come from his team mate. Antonelli was slightly off the pace of Russell all day, and he was pipped to the front row by a resurgent Hamilton. But that means the teenager starts third, on the clean side of the grid and with a slipstream off the line. As such, do not discount him tomorrow. "I had a big reset heading into this weekend and every lap since the beginning of the weekend, we've been in the top two positions. That is what I'm most happy about after such a tough run of results recently for various different reasons. I've really felt back in the groove here in Barcelona and comfortable in the car. I'm really grateful to the team and for everyone that has stood by me in recent weeks. Hopefully today shows exactly what I am capable of. "Of course we are pleased with pole position, but the points are scored tomorrow. The race start will be important, but it will be a long race with high tyre degradation. There will be a lot of opportunities across the Grand Prix and strategy will be interesting. Hopefully we can keep our noses clean, make sure we get to the flag, and be in a position to fight for victory." "It has been a more difficult weekend on my side so far compared to recent races. I've not felt as one with the car here in Barcelona. That is partly because of the conditions here where it is not only very hot, but the track is punishing on the tyres too. I feel like I might have been pushing a bit too much in qualifying and in the final sector, I could feel the lap time slipping away. "Our long run in FP2 was strong so hopefully we can carry that pace into tomorrow. P3 is not a bad position to be starting, and it will be a long race. It will be crucial to look after the tyres and maybe drive a little slower at times to go fast. It will be a strategically difficult race; we will do our best and trying to maximise the result." Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "George has been the quickest driver all weekend. Ahead of the session, if you had asked me for a favourite for pole it would have been him. He's been on it all weekend, has reset and refocused after his recent bad luck and put together an accomplished performance so far this weekend. He will need to carry that on into the race tomorrow if he wants to fight for victory but he's in a good place this weekend and reminding everyone just how good he is. "On Kimi's side, missing FP1 took some track time away from him but P3 is still a solid result. It is easy to forget he is only in his second year and has an incredibly fast team-mate alongside him. His long run pace in FP2 was competitive so I am sure he will be looking forward to tomorrow. "It will be a long race tomorrow with high tyre degradation. Whilst we want to be leading the way into turn one, we know the Grand Prix can't be won there but can be lost. We will need to look after the tyres well, hopefully have good pace, and see what we are racing for come the closing stages." Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director "Well done to George and the team for another well-deserved pole. The car has been reasonably solid all weekend. From our running in practice, we'd expected McLaren to be the closest competitors however, from the early stages of the session it was clear that we had a fight on our hands with Ferrari. "Our run through the sessions was pretty straightforward. We got caught by the red flag in Q3 which gave us a few options for how to use the remaining eight or so minutes. We decided to reuse the tyres and carry the fuel for two attempts giving both cars a banker lap, which in George's case was good enough for provisional pole. The final runs were clean; P1 and P3 is not a bad place to start tomorrow. Our long runs looked competitive and we're expecting hot conditions so hopefully we can convert this qualifying into a strong race result tomorrow." 0/2Next imageFerrari Ferrari were off the pace of Mercedes and McLaren in FP3, but they came back fighting in Qualifying. Hamilton topped Q1, and Leclerc was right in the mix. But the Monegasque crashed at the start of Q3, after correcting a snap which resulted in the car getting away from him. That leaves Ferrari with a rebuild for tomorrow, but their spirits were at least buoyed by Hamilton’s last lap in Q3 which was good enough for the front row. He was only 0.064s behind his former team mate in the end, so it seems his first Ferrari Grand Prix pole is not far away. Charles Leclerc, 10th, No time set in Q3 "I tried to carry some more speed into Turn 4, but then I went onto the dirty side of the track and lost the rear. There’s not much more to say, it was a driving error. "I think we can do well tomorrow. The upgrade was a good step forward and I will push to make up as many positions as possible and bring home a positive result for the team." "I’m really pleased with today’s result. Starting on the front row in Barcelona is a great outcome, especially after a difficult start to the weekend. I wasn’t fully comfortable with the balance and struggled to get the tyres in the right window, even this morning, I didn’t have the feeling in the car I wanted. After FP3 we made some changes, reset, and took a step forward when it mattered. From Q1 onwards I found the confidence to put the laps together. The team did a great job and the upgrades are working as intended, so a big thank you to everyone in Maranello. There’s still a race to run and it won’t be easy, but I’ll give everything. Hopefully we can fight the Mercedes and stay at the front. I love this circuit and I’m excited to see what we can do." "After this qualifying, we have mixed feelings in the garage. There are definitely some positives: there was a huge push from everyone to bring this major upgrade package to Barcelona. It is paying off as the pace is clearly there which is an important factor. Of course we are disappointed for Charles as we could have secured a much better team outcome. He felt he had what he needed to take pole and he had been on the pace in all the sessions. He just pushed a little too hard. But it is what it is, and tomorrow’s race will be a long one and with the likelihood of tyre degradation being a factor, Charles can fight back. As for Lewis, he has been getting stronger all season and he arrived here in Barcelona with a lot of confidence. He knew we had the updates and he built up his pace over all the sessions. Tomorrow in the race we can play our cards to bring home a strong team result." 0/2Next imageMcLaren McLaren were right up there in final practice, but they faded in Qualifying. Piastri was one of only two drivers to get a lap time in before the red flags in Q3 and thus was in a good position, but his last run included a few scruffy moments which sent him down the order. Norris at least bagged a place on the second row, and can fight for the podium from there – especially if the cars ahead start to scrap, or struggle with bad tyre degradation. "We showed some progress today and I'm reasonably happy with P4. The Red Flag in the final corner on my first push lap was unlucky and probably cost us a shot at P3, but P4 is still a strong place to start. Compared to Monaco, we’re back closer to where we should be, and the pace felt better overall. With that said, the gap to Pole, around three and a half tenth, is still significant, and the car wasn’t easy to drive with the wind and heat making it inconsistent, especially at the rear. "Looking at tomorrow, it’s going to be a hot, high-degradation race and tyre management will be everything. Strategy could go one, two, or even three stops depending on how the tyres behave, and I think most teams will end up doing similar things. There’s definitely an opportunity off the start, with smart calls, to move forward, but sustaining that against Ferrari and Mercedes over 66 laps will be tough. We’ll fight for every chance, maximise track position and try to force errors, but we’re realistic - if we’re three tenths off per lap today, we need to be perfect to stay in the mix tomorrow. Overall, happy with the step we’ve made, not happy enough with the gap. We’ll keep pushing." "It was incredibly tight today, with such a small gap from third down to us in P7. We lost more than expected in the final sector, so we need to review why because the lap up to then felt good. Right now, Mercedes looks strong, and Ferrari have taken a step with their upgrades - their corner speeds have been impressive all season, even if they’re still paying a price on the straights. "Tomorrow will likely be a long, hot two-stop race, maybe more, and the key will be managing degradation and maintaining pace across the stints. While Mercedes and Ferrari were quicker today than yesterday, strategy and tyre offsets could open up opportunities, and we feel more in the fight than last week. If the race plays out like we’ve seen here in recent years, with multiple stops and differing tyre life, there’s definitely a chance to gain a few positions." "We are back in a situation where four teams are incredibly close to one another, which is great news and a positive step forward for us after Monaco. Today was a bit of a missed opportunity, primarily because Lando was incredibly unlucky with the Red Flag. He was on a very strong first lap just 250 meters from the finish line, which forced him to be cautious on his final attempt to ensure we got a time on the board. For Oscar, the margins were razor-thin, just a tenth of a second separated P3 from P7 today. "Looking ahead to tomorrow, we are optimistic. The Grand Prix will be heavily dictated by strategy, race pace, and tyre management. While we know we still have work to do from a technical standpoint to fully optimise our tyre exploitation over a race distance, our qualifying and race pace are closely matched this year. We are definitely in the game and looking forward to an exciting fight down into Turn 1." 0/2Next imageRed Bull Red Bull improved as Saturday wore on in Barcelona, with both cars making Q3 with relative ease. Verstappen got a banker lap in before the red flags but it did not make too much of a difference, as he could only find the pace for P5. Hadjar put in a storming last lap to pip Piastri and so lines up alongside his team mate, with only 0.056s between the duo. That will please Red Bull, with Hadjar doing everything he can to challenge Verstappen on merit now. “We were quick the whole session, especially in sector one. Unfortunately, in the final sector on my last lap it just didn’t really come together. I was sliding a lot more than I would have liked and didn’t have much grip and we need to understand why that happened. Otherwise, I think P3 would have been on the cards which, looking at our weekend so far, would have been a really good result. We were still close to P3 and three and a half tenths to Pole so that is good to see. Yesterday I didn’t think I would be in the fight, so this is an improvement and much more promising. All in all, it was a good Qualifying and the car felt better today. This weekend has been tough on everyone’s tyres and tomorrow it will be critical to have the right strategy." “We made good progress in Qualifying compared to all the Free Practice sessions. Even I'm surprised seeing the gap to the top three, so it's definitely encouraging to see. I feel like I did a decent job out there today. I messed up my sector one in Q3 by sending it too hard, so I'm a bit disappointed with that, but the rest was really good. Tomorrow should be a fun race. I'm looking forward to it as there will be a strategy with a lot of pit stops and tyre degradation because of the tough track temperatures. It'll be a big Team effort, but we are known for good strategy, so let's see what we can do". “As a Team, we are never going to be happy with P5 and P6. But, it’s fair to say we expected a bit of a reality check here in Barcelona because of the nature of the track, with its long straight and high speed corners. We know we are a bit weaker on this type of layout, certainly when compared to Monaco. Throughout all three practice sessions, we worked very hard to try and put the car in a better place. In fact, the gap to Pole, three and a half tenths, is probably the smallest we have seen so far this season on this type of track. We have yet to fully solve our limitations but we can say that all the hard work from everyone at the factory and at the race track is slowly but surely paying off. The dominant factor in the race will be the extreme heat leading to multiple pit stops, so there will be many cars in the fight for the podium positions and we will push hard to try and join the battle.” 0/2Next imageRacing Bulls Lindblad finishing in the top 10 in FP3 and looked the favourite of the two cars to make it to Q3 on Saturday. But he suffered deployment issues on his last run in Q2, and was just pipped by Hulkenberg as a result. Lawson did make it to the top-10 shootout, and out-qualified his one midfield rival to seal P8 on the grid. He looks set to fight for points tomorrow, and Lindblad cannot be discounted from 11th, especially given he is on the clean side of the grid. "I’m a little disappointed with today’s result as we had an unfortunate end to Q2. I had to abort my last push lap due to not having any deployment going to T1, however I was already two seconds off by that time, so there was nothing more we could do. That being said, the car has been strong all weekend and fast in every session, so I want to give full credit to the team for the brilliant job they’ve done. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we expect a long race with at least two stops due to high tyre degradation. There are definitely points on the cards with plenty of opportunities during the race, so it will be important to make the most out of that and extract everything from the car." "I’m pretty happy with today. We had a really strong Qualifying session and managed to put together a solid lap when it mattered most. It’s disappointing for Arvid, as we definitely had the potential to get both cars into Q3, but there are still plenty of positives for the team to take from today. Our pace has been slightly better than we expected, which is encouraging, and now the focus is on continuing to build on that heading into tomorrow. There’s a great opportunity to add more points to the board, but it won’t be straightforward. The race is going to be tough with the high tyre degradation around this circuit, so managing the tyres and executing everything correctly will be key. We’ll keep our heads down, focus on our job, and see what we can achieve." Mattia Spini, Head of Trackside Engineering “The car has shown strong pace so far on this high-speed circuit, following a similarly competitive performance at recent lower-speed tracks. It gives us confidence that the package is working well across very different circuit characteristics. “Yesterday, our short-run pace looked good, but we saw higher tyre degradation than expected during the long runs, so the overnight work focused on improving our race performance. In FP3, the programme was centred on Qualifying preparation. We made some final set-up adjustments across sessions, and both drivers delivered competitive first laps in Q1, which allowed us to save a new set of tyres for Q2, when maximum performance was needed to progress into Q3. “Unfortunately, Arvid had a technical issue that prevented him from completing his second attempt in Q2. Liam made it through to Q3, where he ran only on used tyres, saving a new Soft for the race. He did a strong job to qualify at the front of the midfield, ahead of Hülkenberg, who was on the same tyre strategy. “Our focus now turns to the race. We expect it to be a demanding one for both drivers and engineers. Managing tyre degradation while maintaining competitive pace will be key, but we have both cars in a position to fight for points." 0/2Next imageAudi Audi were left disappointed with their qualifying in Monaco after looking fast there. They made up for that here though, with both drivers right in the fight for Q3. Hulkenberg lost his first lap time in Q2 and thus had it all to do on his last run, and he grabbing the last spot in the top 10 while Bortoleto just missed out. That left the German with his first Q3 appearance of the season, as he targets his first 2026 points for Audi. Nico Hulkenberg, 9th, 1:16.657 "I'm happy with the result. P9 is a good outcome for us, and I don't think there was much more left on the table today, so that's definitely a positive. Qualifying wasn't completely straightforward. I had a moment in Turn 3 on my first run in Q1, my lap time was deleted and that meant we had to use an extra set of tyres to get through. That left us a bit compromised later on, but we stayed calm, executed well and managed to make Q3. "The field is very tight, so securing my best qualifying result of the season so far is satisfying. Tomorrow will be the first really hot race of the year, so tyre management and degradation will be key. Our car tends to perform quite well when we look at long-run performance, and I felt confident with the car this weekend, so hopefully we can put ourselves in the fight for some points." Gabriel Bortoleto, 12th, 1:16.001 "It was a decent Qualifying session overall. My final push lap was okay, although I could have made up a little more time in the last sector. The field has been very tight all weekend, so it was important to put together a clean lap and maximise what we had. “Looking ahead to tomorrow, I think there are some opportunities out there for us. A lot will depend on our race pace, but I'm confident we can do a good job and progress into the top ten." Allan McNish, Racing Director “Overall, it was a very positive day for the team. Nico delivered a strong performance to reach Q3, showing impressive consistency throughout the session and matching our best qualifying performance of the year. Gabi also demonstrated excellent pace: unfortunately, he was unable to put together a clean final lap in Q2, but his performance level was very much in line with Nico, and he’ll be in a good position to aim for points tomorrow. “When we look at the bigger picture, the most encouraging aspect is that we have taken another step forward as a team. We have been able to convert the pace we knew was in the car into a stronger qualifying result, which is a clear sign of the progress we are making. That gives us confidence heading into the race tomorrow.” 0/2Next imageAlpine Alpine’s pace has not been there this weekend, as they dropped back from some of their rivals. Neither driver has really looked likely to challenge for the top 10, but both did at least make Q2. Once there, Colapinto got the better of Gasly in their intra-team fight. But it remains to be seen whether their race pace is more competitive, especially given they have the powerful Mercedes engine for the long straights here. “It's been a difficult day and we seem to be struggling at this track for some reason. I'm sure there was a bit more in it today, but Q3 was definitely too far out of reach for us. We are trying to understand a few things as I've not been comfortable in the car all weekend. I can't attack on braking and I'm struggling to have any confidence, with the car moving around quite a lot. We tried a few things overnight, including a chassis change, and we're still not finding the answers we want, so there is definitely a lot more work ahead of us. We are likely to see quite high tyre degradation tomorrow, so it will probably be a tough race for everyone We'll see what we can do and try to recover some positions.” Franco Colapinto, 13th, 1:16.191 “It was another tricky day today and not the outcome or result we wanted. We have made some small improvements since yesterday, but not as big of a step as we would have hoped for from Friday to Saturday, or what we have shown at previous events. I'm not feeling that comfortable in the car and it's sliding a lot, which makes it unpredictable and difficult to drive, especially when pushing on a lap in Qualifying. It's not through lack of trying; we're working really hard as a group to try and understand how to fix it. We tried and tested many things, but it didn't significantly improve to enable us to fight for Q3. We were hoping to fight closer to the top 10 this weekend and we were some way off. Let's see what tomorrow brings and with the heat and degradation there might be some variation in strategy, and we will do our best to fight for points.” Steve Nielsen, Managing Director “We are certainly not satisfied after today's result where we have finished Qualifying with both cars unusually quite far off Q3. For some reason we are facing more difficulties than usual at this track and we have a lot of work to do in order to understand why that is. We changed chassis overnight with Pierre as we decided to change a number of components on his car in a bid to tackle some questions we flagged in our data. By the looks of it, that hasn't provided many new answers or sufficient improvement. Yesterday's high fuel runs were tough for most teams with the high track temperatures bringing significant tyre degradation and it is likely we will see more pit-stops than usual in tomorrow's race, maybe even a three-stopper for some. There will be a mix of strategies up and down the grid, potential opportunities to seize and we'll do our best to bring both cars towards the top ten and into the points.” 0/2Next imageHaas Haas were the only team to gamble and use the medium tyres at the start of Q1, but that strategy did not quite work, and they were forced to swap to the softs. From there, Ocon did not have the pace to progress, but Bearman did. The youngster had to run used soft tyres at the start of Q2 which did not help his cause, but in reality, the car did not have the pace to fight for the top 10 as Haas continue to battle with understanding their upgrades. "It's been an incredibly tough weekend. I felt like we made progress between FP1 and FP2, but overnight we've taken a step back and FP3 wasn’t good – this morning was incredibly tough. We reverted back to a known baseline and honestly I don't think we could've done more today. I was happy with my lap in Q1 where we were a bit more competitive relative to the others, but they only used one set of tyres, some two, whereas we used three. In Q2 everything was a bit more equalized. I'm quite positive for tomorrow though as we had good race pace yesterday and I think in the race we can be more competitive." "Today was supposed to be much better than what we achieved. We had a deployment issue on the second run which put us on the back foot as we were actually fast on the first. On the third run when you get the references that you're faster in some straights and slower in others, it's not going to go super well as you can't really optimise the last lap. Even though we did a good job with the car, it’s a shame we couldn’t get more. Anything is possible tomorrow though, it's going to be a long race and there will be a lot of pit stops, so we’ll see what we can do." "It's been a pretty tough day. I think on Ollie's side of the garage we managed to come back from the issue in FP3 where the car wasn't very good. Some of it we understand, some we don't, so that's an issue. From FP3 to qualifying both cars were better, which is good, but the bad thing is that the drivers now had a new reference to learn. Everyone knows that these tyres are just a one lap tyre, which is why we did three runs in Q1. Esteban in his Q1 run had the exact same issue as he did in FP3 in terms of out lap procedure where he didn't get the energy, so as a team, it's not good enough. “We shouldn’t be having deployment issues on Saturday, we can have it in FP1 but by the end of FP2 everything should've been sorted. That's why in his second run in Q1 Esteban had no reference time. Ollie did a very good job considering everything. His second run in Q2 was a very good lap, but unfortunately, as you can see, the car isn't fast enough. We got the best out of what we could in qualifying, but I don't think we got the best out of the package. We've got lots to review to make sure we get the most out of every session." 0/2Next imageWilliams Williams were clear that this track did not suit their car, with Albon struggling more than Sainz with the feeling of the FW48. He also ran wide in Q1 and exited at the first time of asking. Sainz made Q2 on home soil but could go no further after only running used tyres in that segment. It looks set to be a long race for Williams tomorrow – but if tyre degradation is high, there could be opportunities for anyone who can be clever with strategy. "We maximised everything we had today and reached our target of getting into Q2, which is an honest reflection of where we are at this track. We used all our new tyres in Q1 which left us with not much more to extract in Q2, so improving P16 was not possible. "We’ll be going into tomorrow with a fresh mindset as we know anything can happen here. On pure pace, points aren’t on the table, but this track is hard on everyone’s machinery and strategy can make a big difference. We'll be ready to take any opportunity that comes. It's been a tricky weekend so far, but feeling the support of the Spanish fans has been incredible. I'll give them everything I have tomorrow." "It's been a difficult weekend, more so than it should have been. The balance has felt completely disconnected - we were sliding a lot, fighting both axles, and every time I went into a corner it felt different. There was no rhythm and no real consistency in laps to build on, which is disappointing because we knew this track would be a challenge, but not fully to this extent. Carlos managed to find a bit more than I did in qualifying, so we'll look at that data tonight and try to understand what was going wrong. On pure pace, points aren't really on the table tomorrow, but there is high tyre deg here so there will be plenty of pit stops and a lot of different strategies in play." "We knew this would be a difficult weekend coming here, and unfortunately that has proven to be the case. We haven’t been good in Barcelona for the last few years, and despite large changes to the regulations that remains the case, so we need to dig deeper to understand the issues. We know the car is still not on the weight limit, and in these very warm temperatures that has an extraordinarily large impact on the performance, but that’s not all of it and over the next few weeks and months we need to find all of it because it will impact us at other circuits. Well done to both Alex and Carlos for doing their utmost with the package we have here today. We have sacrificed qualifying for the race and kept a strong allocation of tyres, so let’s see what opportunities arise." 0/2Next imageCadillac Bottas had a brake problem in final practice, running straight into the gravel trap and beaching his car. The team did well to fix the issue before Qualifying, but given he also missed running in FP2, the Finn was very short of laps. Luckily he was able to set a time, but he was not quite on the pace of Perez with the Mexican a couple of tenths faster in their intra-team fight. “We focused on the race from the start of the weekend, so Qualifying was always going to involve some compromises. Even so, I think we maximised our potential today and ended up closer than we expected, which is encouraging. Tire strategy and tyre degradation are likely to be crucial factors tomorrow, especially on a track like this, and we’ve worked hard to put ourselves in the best possible position. We’ve done everything we can to prepare for the race, and now it’s about making the most of every opportunity, executing well, and extracting the maximum from the package.” Valtteri Bottas, 20th, 1:17.757 “We had a positive Qualifying considering my FP3 was quite compromised. As a team, we were able to find and fix the issue I faced. I had to revert to some older parts due to the damage sustained in Free Practice, but I think we made the most out of it given the circumstances. Everyone in the garage did a great job getting the car ready in time. It seems like we’re closer to Williams than before and moving further ahead of Aston, but there’s still improvements to be made. Tomorrow’s race will be focused on managing tyre degradation and overheating. It’s most likely at least two stops for people, so that can create opportunities." “We come away from today with another positive Qualifying under our belts at a more demanding circuit than what we’ve previously faced. Our gap to the midfield is getting progressively closer with Checo just over tenth behind one of the Williams, showing the efforts we’re going to as a team. Valtteri’s running was hindered in FP3 due to an issue that we were able to trace and rectify ahead of Qualifying. The team did a good job to turn his car around in time for the session. Looking ahead to tomorrow, we know the rising temperatures will be a factor for everyone with tyre degradation playing a big part. We’ll see what the race brings and aim to capitalize on any opportunities that may present themselves.” 0/2Next imageAston Martin Not to be for Aston Martin, who locked out the final row on the grid. Stroll did out-qualify Alonso at his team mate’s home race, despite running wide into the gravel at one point. But unfortunately for the team, they are lacking pace here and lost out to Cadillac over one lap. Whether their race pace is any more competitive remains to be seen. Fernando Alonso, 22nd, 1:18.815 “There are no surprises that we qualified at the back as we know this is our level of car performance right now. We had downshifting issues and it was very difficult to drive the car in each Qualifying lap. It’s always special to drive in front of the Spanish fans though and thanks to them for their amazing support over the weekend.” “We're still suffering from drivability issues here in Barcelona. We're down on downforce, which is especially tough around this track, and we don't have the power we need. We'll see what tomorrow brings.” Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer “We knew coming into the weekend that this track would expose our true pace, and that is reflected in our qualifying result. Both drivers and the team gave it everything today, but we have to accept that this is our current position and do what we can in tomorrow’s race.” 0/2Next imagePirelli Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director "The third Free Practice session was used by the teams exclusively with Qualifying in mind. No one focused on long runs. Instead, everyone concentrated on single-lap performance, which they would later face across the three sessions in the afternoon. As already evident yesterday, and confirmed today by some isolated attempts, it is not possible to improve lap time on a second run due to the high level of thermal degradation. This is mainly due to the record track temperatures. The 53°C recorded today also explain why lap times were around nine tenths slower than simulations. "Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race, the likely strategies involve at least two pit stops. Teams may start on a Medium-Hard combination and then decide, based on track performance, whether to finish the race on the yellow or white compound. It is worth noting that most teams have retained two sets of C2 from yesterday, a compound that appears particularly effective on cars with greater downforce, albeit with only slightly lower degradation than the other two. "There is also the option of starting on the Soft, followed by Medium and Hard towards the end. A three-stop strategy with three Soft stints and one Medium does not differ significantly from these approaches. However, considering traffic and the need to overtake, it is unlikely that many teams will commit to it beforehand." F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited