F1 Spanish GP Live Commentary and Updates – FP3 & Qualifying
Saturday's action from the 10th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
Friday's action set up an intriguing battle with little to separate pace-setters Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes from the chasing pack, with McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all in close pursuit.
Causing a surprise in the top 10 were both Alpine drivers, with Pierre Gasly fourth and Esteban Ocon ninth.
FP3 will get under way at 12:30pm local time (11:30am BST) with qualifying following at 4pm local time (3pm BST).
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Summary
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It's a good end to the lap for Albon though, who jumps to 12th. That may not be strong enough to stay above the cutoff line.
This is where the lap times come thick and fast. Take a deep breath...
Perez will be next across the line. The cutoff may be a 1m12.7s - the Red Bull does a 1m12.4s to go sixth.
Bottas follows to go seventh and Zhou into eighth, a tenth shy of the magic number.
That proves true as Ocon goes ahead of both Saubers.
Piastri improves to sixth, whilst Magnussen can't beat the Saubers.
Hamilton goes fastest but had to burn an extra set of softs.
The chequered flag flies and Alonso crosses the line to go ninth - he was lurking above the bottom five before that lap.
Stroll jumps out of the bottom five to go 14th, Hulkenberg follows to go 12th.
Magnussen was pushed into the bottom five late on there, but the shock of the session is RB.
Both Tsunoda and Ricciardo are knocked out, as were both Williams.
Eight-tenths off first was enough to het you eliminated. It is that close.
The cutoff was a 1m12.881s. Tsunoda cannot believe he has missed out. "No man!" he cries.
Sargeant team radio: "It's been a painful weekend guys, I am trying my best."
"Good job, never give up," is the response back.
Hamilton may have been fastest but running an extra set of softs will not help his cause later on.
Turn 10 was his problem area, with oversteer affecting him on run one and understeer biting on run two.
We are back in action as Q2 begins.
Aston Martin are the first to depart the garage.
It's Stroll who is the trailblazer and his first sector is about two-tenths down on what we will see later in the session.
It was on a used soft for the Canadian so the opening gambit of a 1m13.6s won't be representative.
Now the rest of them come out to play... typically all at once and queuing!
It's taken Verstappen a good minute to get from his garage to the pit-exit, such was the queue and spacing going on.
Meanwhile, team-mate Perez is on a flying lap.
Ocon is also on a lap and does a good job - a 1m12.376.
Perez instantly goes faster, only by a tenth though.
Make that Gasly fastest. Is that special from Alpine or a problem for Perez?
Hulkenberg goes third and Bottas fifth, with Alonso sixth. Zhou is eighth - so that's strong from the Finn.
Leclerc is now top on a 1m12.038s, no he's not - Piastri and then Sainz beat the Monegasque as he dips into the 1m11s.
This is relentless!
Norris goes 0.002s faster than Sainz but then Verstappen blitzes the lot of them.
The championship leader sets a 1m11.653s to take the ascendency.
The shock on the first runs was Mercedes - Russell almost half a second down in sixth and Hamilton, on a used set it must be said, down in 13th.
Just five minutes to go in this session - the clouds are covering the track and track temperature is down compared to practice, is that why Mercedes is struggling?
Stroll is alone on track and is 14th. He remains out of sequence after running early at the start of the session.
Bottas, Alonso, Hamilton and Zhou are the others in danger of missing Q3.
It's not a lap that will get Stroll into the final part of quali though. A 1m12.372s is good enough for only 10th at this stage.
90 seconds to go and Hamilton is on a lap. This is crucial for his weekend...
That's much better from the seven-time champion, he goes second, a tenth down on Verstappen.
Bottas also improves up to ninth.
Ocon has done a fine job in the Alpine to go seventh fastest, whilst Hulkenberg misses out.
Next across the line is Gasly and he jumps his team-mate.
Perez now goes seventh, that drops Bottas into the drop zone as the chequered flag flies.
Alonso needs to finish off strong to make Q3, but NO! He misses out in front of his home crowd. Just 0.019s between him and Ocon.
Bottas, Hulkenberg, Stroll and Zhou also miss out.
Russell managed to improve up to third at the death there, he and Hamilton putting Mercedes back in the fight.
It really is a huge moment in the season for Alpine. After nightmarish results early on, intra-team shenanigans and controversy over the hiring of Flavio Briatore as executive advisor this weekend, this will taste so good.
So who will take pole? Verstappen's lap in Q2 has thrust him into favouritism for the first time this weekend.
Here we go then. A short lull as the lights go green but there is activity.
Verstappen didn't fancy queuing in the pits again and managed to get out at the head of the field, other than Perez, who will be the first to set a time.
He is on used tyres though.
It's a 1m13.0s to get us underway in the shootout.
Verstappen posts a 1m11.673s. That's a good benchmark.
As Sainz proves by crossing the line three-tenths down.
Piastri goes third but way off on a used set.
A scintillating middle sector for Norris gives him a chance but he goes a tenth slower than Verstappen, with Hamilton going third.
Russell is fourth in the second Mercedes, 0.167s down on provisional pole.
That pushes Ferrari into fifth and sixth, with Gasly and Ocon ahead of used-running Perez and Piastri.
By: Autosport Staff
