After Rosberg dominating the first four races of the season, Lewis Hamilton pulls out all the stops! He’s gone to pole today, consistently setting quicker times than Rosberg in qualifying. Rosberg is not far behind though.
After being dominated by new teamamte Max Verstappen in Q1 and Q2, Daniel Ricciardo manages to go higher in Q3 to finish on the front row ahead of tomorrow’s race.
Most drivers are on soft tyres today and it’s been highly successful. This is the first race where hard compounds have been made available to drivers but considering the serious success of the softs, we’re probably looking at a higher number of pit stops for drivers who will choose to stick to softer compounds. Earlier in practice, Ferrari on the medium was outpaced by McLaren on the softs, so not really a good omen for the harder compound tyres.
CHEQUERED FLAGS! It’s Lewis Hamilton who takes pole position! He’s followed by teammate Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull rounds off the podium in third.
We’re halfway through Q3 and Rosberg goes fastest with 1:22.475 with Hamilton 8/100ths behind him. Raikkonen goes third fastest with a two second gap – not a good sign for Ferrari.
And WOW! After impressing in Q1 AND Q2 Max Verstappen is SECOND FASTEST ahead of Lewis Hamilton! The Briton is .1s behind him so not a gaping margin, but he’s faster than one Mercedes and both Ferraris!
And there’s the chequered flag! Lewis Hamilton has set the fastest time in Q2, with 1.22.159 with Rosberg in second 1:22.659.
McLaren’s Jenson Button is out, as is Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat, Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez of Haas, Kevin Magnussen of Renault.
Kvyat, Grosjean Perez, Gutierrez, Hulk, Mag
Final two minutes of Q2 and yet again, Max Verstappen is faster than Sebastian Vettel by 5/100ths and in third behind the two Mercedes!
Q2 underway! Lewis Hamilton is now out on track and looking to make up for lost time. Both McLarens have made Q2, but the most shocking elimination has been Felipe Massa of Williams. Hamilton now on the softs as is teammate Nico Rosberg. The Briton sets 1:22.159 and Rosberg for once is behind him with a 6/10th s
Final minute of Q1! Force India and Haas going neck and neck with Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean both looking to progress to Q2. Grosjean is in the relegation zone and scrambling to set a faster time. Felipe Nasr, Rio Haryanto, Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein are all in the bottom of the grid and now it’s the chequered flag! Felipe Massa of Williams is eliminated in Q1.
And Rosberg increases the gap! Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz goes into the top 5 but wow – Max Verstappen, making his Red Bull debut, is off to a FLIER! He’s gone third fastest – ahead of both Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel!
And after the midfield teams come out on track, both Mercedes get on to track! They’ve quickly set the two top times, with Rosberg leading the way with 1:23.002, and Hamilton trailing his teammate.
Q1 begins! And they’re off on track with Rio Haryanto of Manor on his flying lap, and teammate Pascal Wehrlein also out on track.
Practice has concluded with drivers on the softs significantly faster than those on mediums today. Good performances from Ferrari have seen them near the top, but Max Verstappen, who makes his debut for Red Bull Racing with this race, has been particularly impressive.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel set the fastest times in the first two sectors, but a final sector lag has meant Mercedes have set the fastest times to go on top in the final practice session.
Qualifying will begin at 5:30p.m. IST.
We're at the fifth race of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Drivers have been here this year already, for pre-season testing, and now we’re here to race! Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG Petronas has won every one of the four Grands Prix so far and with a maximum 100 point score, is 43 points ahead of the second-placed Lewis Hamilton, reigning double world champion and Rosberg’s own teammate.
Nico Rosberg is reigning champion at the track, winning the race in 2015 from pole.
After a Mercedes-dominated two seasons – in 2014 and 2015, the team look like they will continue to rule the roost this year as well.
Ferrari looked competitive in testing in Barcelona, with fans hoping for a more competitive season, but a series of unfortunate events have meant that for three of the four races this year, only one Ferrari has finished the race. The most recent of these incidents came at the recently-concluded Grand Prix of Russia, with now-former Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat involved in a signifcant shunt with Vettel, effectively completely ending the Ferrari driver and four-time World Champion’s race.
It was not the first time Kvyat was involved in a crash with Vettel, the first coming at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. That, however, had not been as major, with both Vettel and Kvyat finishing on the podium – the second podium finish of Kvyat’s career.
Following the incident in Sochi, however, Kvyat was demoted by team Red Bull to junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso, replacing 18-year-old driving sensation Max Verstappen. The teenager, who will be the last ever driver to have made the jump from Formula 3 from Formula One following regulation changes, has impressed fans with aggression and speed, and a special propensity for overtaking.
He has been immensely skilled on taking lines on other drivers, significantly even managing to overtake at Monza, one of the most notoriously difficult tracks on the Formula One circuit. Described last year by iconic F1 boss Eddie Jordan as the ‘next Schumacher’, the youngster made his Formula One debut at 17 with Toro Rosso in 2015 and had two highest fourth-place finishes.
The son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, the teenager is also the son of karting champion Sophie Kumpen.
Red Bull boss Helmut Marko’s decision to transfer Kvyat to Toro Rosso was met with mixed reactions, although it was revealed earlier last week that the decision had been in the pipeline for a time, and had not been taken solely as a reaction to the crash.
Meanwhile, after a contentious 2015 with engine manufacturers Renault, Red Bull, who had had serious reliability issues, retained the services of the manufacturer. Renault have themselves returned as a works team this year. They have two world championships to their name, both with Fernando Alonso, in 2005 and 2006, but this year with two drivers who are not as experienced, have also had serious tyre issues in every race so far.
The legendary Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver on the track, having won 6 races here. Among the drivers on the current grid, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso each have two wins here.
