Key events
Vinicius Junior, Bernardo Silva and Zinedine Zidane are all present, too.
Jose Mourinho and Rafa Nadal are in the garages, VIP access being enjoyed.
Carlos Sainz speaks: “I don’t think we will have a car to score points or to have an amazing race unless something big happens … but I’ll still enjoy every lap I do. I will give it my best and we will make it this the last year that I don’t have a competitive car in Madrid.”
Here’s Giles Richards’ report from qualifying.
On a circuit that has proved punishingly unforgiving with some major crashes, keeping it clean was vital, but for the top spot, absolute commitment and inch-perfect execution was the differentiator in threading the needle inside the looming walls of this high-speed challenge.
Drivers’ standings after Italian GP, won by Antonelli.
1 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 267pts
2 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 201
3 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 191
4 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 171
5 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 155
6 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 127
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 116
8 Isack Hadjar 🇫🇷 Red Bull 71
9 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Racing Bulls 51
10 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 41
11 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 29
12 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 21
13 Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas 18
14 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 10
15 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 6
16 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 6
17 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 5
18 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 3
19 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 3
20 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1
Yet to score:
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac
Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac
Spanish GB qualifying
1 Lando Norris 🇬🇧 McLaren 1:31.824
2 Kimi Antonelli 🇮🇹 Mercedes 1:31.835
3 Max Verstappen 🇳🇱 Red Bull 1:31.964
4 Lewis Hamilton 🇬🇧 Ferrari 1:32.013
5 Charles Leclerc 🇲🇨 Ferrari 1:32.019
6 George Russell 🇬🇧 Mercedes 1:32.149
7 Oscar Piastri 🇦🇺 McLaren 1:32.294
8 Liam Lawson 🇳🇿 Red Bull 1:32.316
9 Franco Colapinto 🇦🇷 Alpine 1:32.903
10 Arvid Lindblad 🇬🇧 Racing Bulls 1:33.041
Eliminated in Q2
11 Nico Hülkenberg 🇩🇪 Audi 1:33.223
12 Gabriel Bortoleto 🇧🇷 Audi 1:33.388
13 Esteban Ocon 🇫🇷 Haas 1:33.667
14 Pierre Gasly 🇫🇷 Alpine 1:33.753
15 Yuki Tsunoda 🇯🇵 Racing Bulls 1:34.084
16 Alexander Albon 🇹🇭 Williams 1:35.532
Eliminated in Q1
†17 Carlos Sainz 🇪🇸 Williams 1:35.312
18 Fernando Alonso 🇪🇸 Aston Martin 1:35.388
19 Sergio Pérez 🇲🇽 Cadillac 1:35.913
20 Valtteri Bottas 🇫🇮 Cadillac 1:38.011
No time
Oliver Bearman 🇬🇧 Haas
Lance Stroll 🇨🇦 Aston Martin
†Three-place penalty for impeding Bottas
Preamble
It could barely have been closer in qualifying, with Lando Norris snatching pole by 0.011 seconds so what does Madring, the newest circuit in the championship, hold? A lot of unknowns to deal with.
To quote Giles Richards: “Billed as a street circuit, it is in fact a hybrid of roads and purpose-built track; narrow, with fast corners and walls looming for much of the lap, there is going to be virtually no margin for error.”
Kimi Antonelli, the drivers’ championship leader, is still at the front of the grid, so what does the race hold? We’ll start to find out at 2pm UK time.
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