Friday, March 29, 2024

F1 Spanish GP Live Qualifying

We will be covering the F1 Spanish GP Qualifying right here, so stay tuned for all the action.

Lewis Hamilton takes pole in a very interesting qualifying session for the Spanish GP. It may not have had the constant back and forth of some of the races, but the intrigue was rife. The Ferrari was dominant in Q1 and Q2 but were outclassed by the Mercedes in Q3 as the temperatures continued to drop. With 24 of the last 27 winners coming from the front row on this track, things are looking good for Mercedes.

Spanish GP Qualifying Live

15:00 One last dash for Vettel but he comes up short but moves up to third
15:00 Hamilton puts in an improved 1:16,173 and Bottas puts in a time just 0.040 behind him
14:59 Raikkonen moves up to second
14:57 Ricciardo goes marginally quicker but it’s not enough to move up
14:56 Hold onto your hats, it’s time for the final runs and we have 6 drivers genuinely going for pole

14:53 What has happened there? Furry have dominated quali so far but Q3 has thrown tat all out of the window and it’s Mercedes and Redbull ahead of both Ferrari drivers
14:52 Vettel can only go fifth a whole 7 tenths behind Hamilton. Raikkonen down in seventh
14:51 But it doesn’t last long as Hamilton puts in astonishing 1:16.491
14:51 And it’s a 1:16.8 for the Red Bull
14:51 Ricciardo is a tenth up on his teammate through the first sector

Q2 Live Updates

It’s good to see four drivers fighting over pole, although it’s debatable whether Ferrari would let Raikkonen beat Vettel if they were one two in the race

14:40 Alonso takes 10th place. Perez, Leclerc, Ocon, Gasly and Vandoorne eliminated
A rather uneventful Q2 so far
All the main drivers have done their opening times in Q2 on the soft tyre
14:28 Hamilton puts in a 1:17.17, but is promptly beaten by Bottas, Raikkonen and Vettel. Each going faster than the last

Q1 Live Updates

After Q1 the Ferrari looks awesome and claims they were sandbagging in practice seem accurate.
14:18 Vandoorne puts in a last ditch lap to eliminate Hulkenberg, while Stroll puts the Williams in the wall on his final lap
14:17 Hulkenberg puts in a time on his final lap good enough for 14th, but quickly pushed down to 15th
14:15 Ericsson improves his time but remains in the bottom five
14:11 Hulkenberg sounds like he’s got a fuel pump issue
14:10 Vettel puts in an awesome time nearly half a second quicker than Raikkonen
14:06 Raikkonen responds with a 1:17.4 and Hamilton slots into second. Bottas goes third pushing Vettel down to fourth
14:02 Vettel puts in a good opening lap at 1:17.806
14:00 And were underway in Spain. A stiff breeze and no sun could make things interesting

Lewis Hamilton pole Spanish GP
Lewis Hamilton on pole for Spanish GP

The Season So Far

We head into the Spanish GP with Lewis Hamilton sitting atop the F1 Drivers standings on 70 points. After a very eventful last 2 races saw Sebastien Vettel drop considerable points. Overtaking has still been of a premium this season, and that has led to some extensive carnage in the last few races. Safety cars, crashes, coming togethers and some pretty poor decision making has made for exciting viewing.

Sebastian Vettel is second, just 4 points behind Hamilton, with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen in third, a further 18 points back. Valtteri Bottas is on 40 points, with Daniel Ricciardo in 5th on 37 points. All racing fans will be delighted to see Fernando Alonso in 6th, finally getting back amongst the points on a regular basis.

Spanish GP Weekend So Far

Mercedes have been the dominant team on track so far this weekend. With Valtteri Bottas leading the way in FP1, and Lewis Hamilton topping the leaderboard in FP2 and FP3. Several of the teams seemed to struggle to get heat into the softer tyres, and this has led to a small controversy. Pirelli has reduced the tread of the tyres by 0.4mm for the Spanish, French and British Grands Prix following a resurfacing of those circuits.

Bottas at the Spanish GP qualifying

The biggest story of the Spanish GP weekend so far though has to be the return of Robert Kubica to a Formula 1 cockpit. Kubica has been trying to make his comeback since partially severing his right hand in a rally crash in 2011. While he could only post the 19th quickest time, Kubica was 1.246 seconds quicker than his Williams teammate. Kubica is the Williams reserve and development driver and will not appear in the race.

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