Summary

  • George Russell takes pole for Barcelona-Catalunya GP

  • Hamilton second, Antonelli third and Norris fourth

  • Charles Leclerc crashes out of Q3

  • Stroll out-qualifies Alonso for first time in 42 grands prix

  • Select 'listen live' icon at top of page for BBC radio commentary (UK only)

  • Send us your views by selecting 'Get Involved'

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  1. Russell beats Hamilton to Barcelona polepublished at 17:07 BST

    Andrew Benson
    BBC F1 correspondent

    Mercedes' George Russell during Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix qualifyingImage source, Getty Images

    George Russell bounced back from the disappointments of the past few races to take pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

    Russell edged out Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari by just 0.064 seconds as runaway championship leader Kimi Antonelli could manage only third place in the other Mercedes.

    McLaren's Lando Norris took fourth from Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, while Hamilton's team-mate Charles Leclerc crashed on his first lap in the final session and will start 10th.

    Norris' team-mate Oscar Piastri was seventh, from Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson and Audi's Nico Hulkenberg.

    Russell said it was "nice to feel the groove again", having failed to score points in the past two grands prix.

    He fell 68 points behind Antonelli after a difficult race in Monaco was ruined by an unjust penalty for speeding in the pit lane but has looked the man to beat all weekend in Spain.

    Read Andrew's full report here

  2. See you on Sunday 13:00 BSTpublished at 17:05 BST

    That is all from us today, thank you so much for joining us.

    We will be back at 13:00 BST tomorrow to take you though live coverage of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

    George Russell has managed to turn his bad luck from the last two races to some good luck. He will start on pole for Sunday's race and hope to convert it to a race win.

    He will have to battle former team-mate Lewis Hamilton and possibly current team-mate Kimi Antonelli.

    Meanwhile, Lando Norris has said it is "very unlikely" for the McLarens to fight with the Mercedes tomorrow.

    Lights out at 14:00 BST.

    See you then!

  3. 'I feel ashamed' - Leclercpublished at 17:04 BST

    Charles LeclercImage source, Getty Images

    Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who crashed out in Q3, speaking to Sky Sports: "I just feel very much ashamed to be here after a crash like that. What did I do? I released the brakes and I tried to carry speed. I think we were close to being the fastest car, apart from Turn Four. I knew it was a weakness, I knew I had to make everything perfect for the lap, and I tried.

    "I obviously regret it and again, very much ashamed. The last two races, Canada and Moanco, have been in a very tricky configuration, and that didnt make it easy.

    "This weekend, there was none of that. The car was great, the car was amazing and I didn't deliver. And I think it's a lot worse than that - I put it into the wall.

    "No excuses. I just feel ashamed. It's part of our job to come out after a session and speak in front of the camera but I just feel ashamed.

    "The only positibve I can take is the feeling that I have in the car back, and for tomorrow, I feel optimistic we can have a good race. But I need to show that.

    "I just need to do the perfect race. It's the least I can do. But yeah, ashamed."

  4. 'We don't have the pace to match the Mercedes' - Piastripublished at 17:02 BST

    McLaren's Oscar Piastri after qualifying P7: "I was a bit surprised I lost so much time in the final sector to be honest. I need to look at wehre I lost it because I went into the final sector on a good lap and came out of it not that much quicker than my lap before. That was a bit of a surprise for me. It's obviously very very tight. We don't have the pace to match the Mercedes, even Ferrari have looked very strong today and I think that will bode well for them in the race tomorrow.

    "Tyre life is always an important thing around here. There will definitely be a fair few pit stops happening tomorrow I'd imagine and hopefully we can use that to get ourselves a bit further up."

  5. Norris 'happy but not happy enough'published at 16:59 BST

    Lando NorrisImage source, Getty Images

    Lando Norris speaking to Sky Sports after qualifying P4: "I don't know if it's progress. We're back to where we were pre-Monaco. I think everyone got pretty downbeat after Monaco because it was such a shocker of a weekend. We've just returned back to the form we had in Montreal, I qualified P3 there. I think we've taken steps forward. We've brought some little parts that seem to have helped fractionally and at the minute fractions of a second can make a difference. I think we're happy, we took a step forward, we're happy to be back on track. It's not like the car was beautiful out there. We take it as a team. I think it's nice that we could bounce back after a disappointing weekend but were still 3.5 tenths off pole and that's a big amount. Happy but not happy enough."

    On if the McLarens can fight the Mercedes' tomorrow: "No. 3.5 tenths off on this track. you need grip, you need a good rear and this is something we don't have today. Very unlikely."

  6. Postpublished at 16:56 BST

    Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has been speaking to Sky Sports and the Monegasque has said he feels "ashamed" about crashing out in Q3.

    Lando Norris has also been speaking to them and said he is happy with P4 but "not happy enough".

  7. Mercedes gives drivers 'equal love and support' - Wolffpublished at 16:51 BST

    George Russell and Kimi AntonelliImage source, Getty Images

    More from Mercedes' boss Toto Wolff, speaking to Sky Sports, on whether Antonelli had battery issues in the final sector: "I think he pushed a button maybe, a tiny bit too late, and didn't have full deployment. But it was tiny."

    On how he handles his two drivers: "I always try to be super-balanced. I asked Alain Prost once, what went wrong between Ayrton Senna and you? And he said the team was never transparent, we never knew who was the loved child.

    "I try to do the opposite. I put pressure when necessary - pull your finger out of your backside! - but then on the other side, put my arm around all of us, when they need the support. And I'm happy to say, we're giving them equal support, equal love, and I think it's down to everyone that we'll never make them feel like it's not going in the right direction."

  8. Mercedes give drivers 'equal love and support' - Wolffpublished at 16:47 BST

    George Russell and Kimi AntonelliImage source, Getty Images

    Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, speaking to Sky Sports: "We are talking about tiny gaps today. Kimi [Antonelli] is late on the brakes, fires the car into the corner, and George [Russell] is more smooth.

    "I don't think we should generalise, but both are adaptable. As a recurring theme is, Kimi is more brutal with the car, and George is more smooth.

    "I think for George, in Miami, he wasn't quick, and Kimi was, like last year. So George was like, 'what is he doing on the other side of the garage?' They tuned the car electronically and mechanically more to what Kimi did, and it didn't work for George. And after Monaco, he came back and said, 'I need to reset, I need to go back to what I had at the beginning of the season' - and you see the result."

  9. Barcelona in rotation with Spapublished at 16:45 BST

    We will not see the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in 2027.

    The Spain track will be in rotation with Belgium's Spa circuit over the next few years.

    Barcelona will return to the F1 calendar in 2028, 2030 and 2032.

    Liam Lawson and Carlos SainzImage source, Getty Images
  10. Postpublished at 16:42 BST

    sir chris hoy and george russellImage source, Getty Images

    Great Britain's six-time Olympic cycling gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy has presented George Russell with the pole position award.

    The pair shake hands and pose for a photo, a lovely moment.

  11. 'Difficult weekend so far' for Antonellipublished at 16:39 BST

    Kimi AntonelliImage source, Getty Images

    Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, who starts third on Sunday's grid: "It's been a little bit of a difficult weekend so far for me. I didn't really have the feeling with the car.

    "The long run was strong yesterday, so that's a positive, but today, I've been lacking a little bit. But looking forward to tomorrow."

    On whether he will be able to get a slipstream starting P3: "I'm going to try and get a good start and then I will try and make the best use of the tow also. We won't use any [straight mode], so definitely the slipstream is going to be even stronger.

    "Obviously, a lot of work to do in order ot be ready for tomorrow."

  12. Hamilton 'in a good position to fight tomorrow'published at 16:36 BST

    Lewis Hamilton speaking to George RussellImage source, Getty Images

    Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton speaking after qualifying in P2 for the Barcelona Grand Prix: "Feels great to be up here with [Mercedes]. Honestly this weekend's been so difficult, missing FP1. Normally it's OK to miss FP1 but there was a huge offset. We went into FP2 and I was a second off but just didn't feel comfortable and up to it. These tyres last one lap so you only have two shots at it a session. Even if you do a cooldown lap and go again, the car balance is completely off so it's not a good reference. Then I went into FP3, again I was four or five tenths off and I was thinking 'where am I going to get that pace?'.

    "I left the track between FP3 and quali. I went back to my motorhome and 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. [Mercedes] did a great lap, congrats to George. But we're in a good position to fight tomorrow so we have a race."

    On if this is Ferrari's true position: "All weekend we've been four tenths off, even with the upgrade that's where we thought we were. For us to be that close, less than a tenth between us, that's a real showing of the hard work of everyone at the factory so big thank you to everyone in Maranello. We've just got to keep pushing, keep developing and I'm hoping tomorrow we can squeeze something more out of this and keep up with [Mercedes] for once."

  13. 'I feel like my old self again' - Russellpublished at 16:33 BST

    George Russell received his pole position award from Sir Chris HoyImage source, Getty Images

    Mercedes' George Russell, who takes pole position for the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix: "It's been a great weekend so far - I kind of feel like my old self again, where every lap I'm doing the job, fighting for the top positions.

    "Obvously, the last few races, for numerous reasons, haven't been on our side but I came in this weekend with a clean slate, felt good and it's great to be on pole."

    On Sunday's race: "I think it's going to be an interesting race tomorrow. Lewis [Hamilton] did an amazing job to get up there - I think that was a real surprsiee. We thought the fight was with ourselves and Mclaren, and then Lewis has been really quick all this seesion.

    "I'm sure there's oing to be a fight on our hands. Kimi [Antonelli] did an amazing job, so it's not going to be easy from every standpoint, but I fell ready."

  14. Postpublished at 16:31 BST

    Two former team-mates, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, will make up the front row for Sunday's race at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

    Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is currently second in the drivers standing, 66 points behind leader Kimi Antonelli.

    George Russell is just two points behind Hamilton and will be hunting to get himself back up the standings.

    Behind them is championship leader Antonelli, who will be aiming to widen the gap at the top of the standings. Is P3 a good spot for him to overtake Russell and Hamilton heading into Turn One?

    Let's hear from the top three.

    Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Kimi AntonelliImage source, Getty Images
  15. And the restpublished at 16:26 BST

    11. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)

    12. Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi)

    13. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

    14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

    15. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

    16. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

    17. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

    18. Alex Albon (Williams)

    19. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)

    20. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)

    21. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

    22. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

  16. Top 10published at 16:24 BST

    1. George Russell (Mercedes) 1:14.679

    2. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.064

    3. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.319

    4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.322

    5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.342

    6. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.398

    7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.411

    8. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.863

    9. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.978

    10. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) No time set

  17. Postpublished at 16:22 BST

    Nico Hulkenberg put his car into ninth spot after Charles Leclerc crashed his Ferrari.

    The McLarens are split by the two Red Bulls. Lando Norris finished in fourth while Oscar Piastri is seventh.

    Liam Lawson puts his Racing Bulls in eighth for Sunday's race.

  18. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 16:19 BST

    Select the 'Get Involved' button to have your say

    Nice comeback George but Lewis Hamilton, what a lap!

    Rachel, Lincoln

    What a lap from Lewis. Only driver stopping Mercedes running away with it.

    Kev, Wolverhampton

  19. 'Just what Russell needed'published at 16:18 BST

    Alice Powell
    British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

    Just what George Russell needed, heading into a grand prix Sunday.

    It was difficult last time out in Monaco for Russell but he's got his 10th career pole position.

    And he'll be starting on the front row alongside Lewis Hamilton.

  20. Team radio - Russell to Mercedespublished at 16:17 BST

    Russell: "Nice to feel the groove again"