Lando Norris, McLaren MCL38
In an exciting turn of events, the qualifying session for the tenth race of the 2024 F1 season proved to be thrilling. As the session progressed, it seemed that Verstappen was on his way to secure his 40th pole position, further extending his lead over his rivals. However, Norris had different plans and delivered an impressive lap, beating Verstappen by just 0.020s.
The dominance of Norris and Verstappen was evident, with Lewis Hamilton, in third place, trailing by over three tenths. However, Hamilton managed to surpass his teammate George Russell for the second time this season.
The qualifying session began with track temperature reaching 38 degrees Celsius, while the air temperature was at 24 degrees. The conditions remained dry and clear throughout the session.
Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu were the first drivers to take to the track, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda in their VCARBs.
With 13 minutes remaining, the top drivers stayed in their boxes, but soon the pit area became busy with activity as over ten cars went out on the track simultaneously.
Verstappen quickly claimed the top spot on the timing screens during his first lap, with Norris close behind in second place and Hamilton in third. However, when the Ferrari cars started their fast laps, Charles Leclerc surpassed Verstappen, pushing him down to second place. Carlos Sainz secured fourth place.
After the initial laps of the top drivers, the order stood as follows: Leclerc – Verstappen – Norris – Sainz – George Russell – Pierre Gasly – Nico Hulkenberg – Hamilton – Oscar Piastri – Sergio Perez – Fernando Alonso – Valtteri Bottas – Lance Stroll – Esteban Ocon – Daniel Ricciardo.
The colder track conditions resulted in faster lap times. Leclerc led the pack with a time of 1m12.257, followed by Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, and Russell after the first lap of all drivers.
As the session neared its end, the drivers planning a second lap went out to secure their spots in Q2, while the top four drivers chose to stay in their boxes.
In the end, Hamilton emerged as the leader, securing his place in Q2 with a time of 1:12.143. However, he had to use another set of soft tires, which was not an ideal situation.
Hamilton had a 0.114s advantage over Leclerc in second place and a 0.163s advantage over Verstappen in third.
The first driver to be eliminated was Kevin Magnussen, who finished 16th in the Haas and was beaten by Lance Stroll, who secured 15th place by a margin of 0.056s.
Yuki Tsunoda followed, finishing 17th and leading his teammate Ricciardo by 0.090s. It was not a satisfactory performance for VCARB as they brought heavily upgraded cars to Barcelona but failed to reach Q3 as in previous races.
Alex Albon finished 19th, and Sargeant in 20th.
The second phase of qualifying was underway, and only Stroll went out on the track while the other drivers remained in the boxes. Stroll had the track all to himself as he aimed to set the first lap time, recording a time of 1:13.630 on used soft tires. However, with just over ten minutes remaining, the rest of the cars lined up in the boxes, preparing to take action. After the initial laps, the order was Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, Gasly, Perez, Hulkenberg, and Ocon. Verstappen achieved a good lap time.
Hamilton completed his lap with used tires and found himself in 13th place, expressing dissatisfaction with the tire. The first lap was completed, with VER setting the benchmark at 1m11.653, ahead of NOR, SAI, PIA, and LEC. More times were expected.
With three minutes remaining, the second round of laps began, and the focus was on Hamilton to see if he could produce a lap time good enough to advance to Q3. Verstappen, Norris, Sainz, and Leclerc remained in the pits. Hamilton actually delivered a decent lap and secured a place in Q3, finishing second behind Verstappen, who remained on top with a time of 1:11.653. Russell was in third position, followed by Norris, Sainz, Piastri, Leclerc, Perez, Gasly, and Ocon.
One of the crowd favorites, Alonso, failed to qualify for Q3, finishing in 11th place, just 0.019s behind Ocon. Bottas was the 12th fastest in the Sauber, trailing Alonso by 0.99s and leading Hulkenberg by 0.083s. Stroll was the 14th fastest in the other Aston Martin, ahead of Zhou in the other Sauber.
Perez kicked off Q3 and was the first driver to take to the track, setting the initial time of the session at 1:13.061. However, his time was not notable as he was using used tires. Verstappen, Sainz, and Piastri followed Perez, starting their first fast laps in Q3. Perez soon dropped in the rankings.
After the first laps in Q3, with just over six minutes remaining, Verstappen held the provisional pole position, ahead of Norris, Hamilton, Russell, Sainz, Leclerc, Gasly, Ocon, and Perez. Piastri’s first lap was excluded for exceeding track limits, while Russell expressed dissatisfaction with Hamilton’s driving during the out lap.
In the final minutes of qualifying, Perez and Piastri led the way, followed by the Alpines and Ferraris, with Norris, Verstappen, and the two Mercedes drivers joining the action. Piastri was the first to start a second timed lap, but made a mistake, going wide in turn 13 and ending up in the gravel, ending his session.
© 2024
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