Hello and welcome to this Total Motorsport live blog for Qualifying at the F1 2025 Spanish GP from Barcelona as teams and drivers get ready to fight for pole position at the third Formula 1 race of the European triple-header in what could be final outing at the circuit.
Oscar Piastri strengthened McLaren’s grip on the Spanish Grand Prix weekend by topping the timesheets in FP3, comfortably ahead of team-mate Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, with rivals including Red Bull and Mercedes left trailing in the final hour before Qualifying.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya stretches 4.675km and features a mix of high-speed corners and slower, more intricate sections. After a 564-metre run to Turn 1, the lap unfolds with constant demands on tyre management, aerodynamic balance, and driver precision. Teams have an added complication ahead of Qualifying in light of a new FIA Technical Directive targeting front wing flexibility, and new more stringent tests.
Total-Motorsport.com’s F1 2025 Spanish GP live updates for Qualifying will offer fans unparalleled insight into team strategies, reliability concerns, and those in the hunt for pole position.
F1 Spanish GP 2025 Qualifying LIVE: Latest Updates
Piastri reacts to pole position for 2025 Spanish GP
The championship leader is back on pole in the 2025 season and finds himself poised to extend his lead at the top of the standings.
So how does Oscar Piastri feel about his pole position lap at the Spanish GP? He takes a moment to reflect on his team’s progress through the weekend.
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“Very happy. It’s been a good weekend so far,” Piastri said to F1 TV. “Didn’t start off in the best way, we were struggling a little bit.
“But last night we found some pace and today the car is mega and feel I have been able to put in some good laps as well.
“This was a pretty miserable scene 12 months ago so to turn it around in the best way is a great result.”
Norris admits to errors on last lap
Lando Norris had pole position in his hands at the end of his first run, but the moment escaped him as Oscar Piastri found an extra two tenths on his final lap.
Onboard footage shows the Brit making a plethora of errors around his lap, and he admits that’s what cost him the starting spot for the run down to Turn 1.
“Oscar drove very well,” Norris told F1 TV on Saturday. “The pace is definitely there, just a couple of little mistakes.
“A good result for the team, a nice one-two and an interesting start for tomorrow.
“It’s a long run down to Turn 1, which is normally interesting and we have a lot of quick guys behind us, so we won’t count them out. A good result today, I’m happy.”
Verstappen happy enough with third on the grid in Spain
The hopes from Red Bull ahead of the weekend was that Max Verstappen would find himself on pole position for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, but that didn’t quite happen.
McLaren proved to have a clear and insurmountable edge over the Red Bull and rest of the field, and the best the four-time champion could do is third on the grid.
Yet he’s not upset.
“We were lacking all weekend compared to them [McLaren],” Verstappen told F1 TV. “We executed well. Third is where we more or less should be.
“It’s fun. Around here it’s about squeezing everything out of the car. I will try my best but they will be tough to beat.”
Lando Norris bottles pole position as Oscar Piastri nicks first spot
Lando Norris can barely improve on his final lap and drops a yellow middle sector, opening the door for his McLaren teammate to snatch pole position for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix!
The championship leader beats the Monaco GP winner, with the pair ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull and George Russell on the second row.
Who will lead into Turn 1 on Sunday? How aggressive will the McLaren colleagues get on that long run down to the first braking zone?
Final laps due up: Who takes pole in Barcelona?
It’s Norris vs Piastri with the chasing pack not a million miles away.
The McLarens are on track. Who takes pole?
Find out here with Total-Motorsport.com.
Six minutes to go: Norris takes provisional pole
Lando Norris shrugs off his teammate’s gamesmanship to snatch provisional pole position away from Oscar Piastri at the end of the first runs by a fractional 0.017 with a 1:11.819.
Then comes George Russell, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen in the Top 5.
Next is Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli, Pierre Gasly, Fernando Alonso and Isack Hajdar in the Top 10.
Eight minutes to go: Some games from Piastri
Oscar Piastri completes his first lap to take provisional pole at the Spanish Grand Prix but then uses a sneaky tactic to get out of the way of Lando Norris by almost stopping on the line to deny the tow.
The Australian understands he’s in a championship battle now, that’s for sure.
Elsewhere George Russell slots into second ahead of Max Verstappen.
Q3 begins: Who will take pole for the Spanish Grand Prix?
It’s Oscar Piastri with a slender edge ahead of Lando Norris in the battle for pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.
But can Max Verstappen, the defending world champion, get in on the mix?
Find out here with Total-Motorsport.com.
Remember, we lost: Bearman (15th), Stroll, Lawson, Bortoleto and Albon in Q2.
Alex Albon out of Q2
Alex Albon joins Carlos Sainz on the sidelines for Q3 in a disappointing end to Saturday for the Williams team, who admitted the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya doesn’t suit them.
Albon even goes as far as accusing Haas of being “dirty”, appearing to suggest they used tactics to hold him up in the third sector on purpose.
Kimi Antonelli manages to sneak through to Q3, despite not getting the tow from his Mercedes teammate, George Russell.
OUT in Q2: Bearman (15th), Stroll, Lawson, Bortoleto, Albon.
Four minutes to go: Who has to improve in Barcelona?
George Russell has offered to give Kimi Antonelli a tow in a bid to help his Mercedes teammate punch a ticket through to Q2.
However, Mercedes haven’t sent the Brit out so he might not be able to get the benefit of that extra straight line speed.
In danger are: Oliver Bearman, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto.
Eight minutes to go: Norris turns up in Spain
Lando Norris is just 0.058 off Oscar Paistri as the McLaren drivers find themselves nip-and-tuck at the top of the timing boards.
Then comes Max Verstappen, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Kimi Antonelli and Isack Hadjar in the Top 10.
How will these times change up when the final runs get underway very shortly?
10 minutes to go: Verstappen top of the times
We’re still waiting for the McLaren challenge but Max Verstappen heads to the top of the times with a 1:12.358.
That’s competitive to his Q1 time.
Let’s see what Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri can do about it.
Q2 begins in Spain: Who will make it through to the battle for pole?
Oscar Piastri topped Q1 ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, the typical three looking set to compete for pole position at this Spanish Grand Prix weekend.
But first, who will get through to the final part of qualifying? Stay tuned with Total-Motorsport.com to find out.
Remember we lost Tsunoda (20th), Colapinto, Sainz, Ocon and Hulkenberg in Q1.
Tsunoda and Sainz out in Q1
It’s another miserable qualifying session for Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull and he can’t find a time to get his lap on the board.
That’s the Japanese racer starting from 20th on the grid, his time apparently deleted for track limits. Is that seat cursed? Max Verstappen got through in second…
Also out is Williams’ Carlos Sainz at his home race in Barcelona, that’s not what the 31-year-old would have wanted in his own backyard.
Elsewhere, Franco Colapinto suffered a late power failure and couldn’t get a final lap in to improve.
OUT in Q1: Tsunoda (20th), Colapinto, Sainz, Ocon and Hulkenberg.
Two minutes to go: Problems for Colapinto!
Franco Colapinto is stuck at the end of the pit lane with some kind of problem on his Alpine, that’s disastrous for the man from Argentina, who is currently 11th!
Will he make it through to Q2?
Final laps are due up!
Five minutes to go: Who is in danger?
We’ve focused on the front runners and now it’s time to look to those who have to get a move on if they hope to appear in Q2 at this 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.
Gabriel Bortoleto, Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg are all the drivers need ing to find some extra time in Barcelona.
Can they do it?
Eight minutes to go: Verstappen splits the McLarens
Max Verstappen gets ahead of Lando Norris to sit 0.247 behind McLaren’s Oscar Piastri at the top of the times.
There were no purple sectors on the four-time champion’s lap.
Is he holding off from showing his true hand?
10 minutes to go: Piastri comfortable at the top
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has picked up exactly where he left off in FP3 with a 1:12.551 to move himself comfortably clear of Lando Norris in second.
The gap is 0.248, and Norris has to think about George Russell in the Mercedes behind.
But the Silver Arrows aren’t far away. Are they in the hunt for pole?
13 minutes to go: Big hitters just start to come out
It’s been a quiet start to Q1 in qualifying as drivers wait for optimal track conditions.
And now the circuit is finally getting busier as the Red Bulls, McLarens and Ferrari cars come out.
Which one of them will prove fastest? Remember, it’s Piastri with the edge based on FP3.
GREEN LIGHT: Qualifying begins
The light at the end of the pit lane goes green, we have green flags at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and that means qualifying can get underway!
It’s Franco Colapinto’s Alpine first out on track, with just 17 minutes to get his best time on the board.
He’s targeting a Q2 to keep Flavio Briatore happy.
Qualifying is moments away!
The duel for pole position is about to begin and Oscar Piastri is the favourite but he will surely face chalk ages from Lando Norris and Max Verstappen.
Can the Australian, our championship leader, fend them off at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix?
Find out here with Total-Motorsport.com!
Is Lewis Hamilton too old for Formula 1?
Lewis Hamilton has been out-qualified 7-1 by Charles Leclerc at Ferrari this season, the second-worst record out of any driver pairing across the sport.
It’s a continuation of his struggles over one-lap from 2024, begging the question that, at the age of 40, he could be too old for Formula 1. Here’s what Nico Rosberg, his ex-teammate and the 2016 F1 world champion, thinks.
“There’s something missing,” Rosberg tells off Sky Sports F1. “He’s not connecting with the car yet and still a bit on the backfoot but the car is a handful.
“Lewis’ strengths in this stage of his career is his race pace, which we saw in Imola when he started 12th and finished fourth with blistering pace. It was amazing to watch.
“But, he’s 40 and at some point, it’s all about the speed of processing in our brains, the reaction time in qualifying, because we are in the ragged age. At some point you will get ever so slightly slower and it will happen to Lewis sooner rather than later.”
Does Max Verstappen have something to give in Montemelo?
Can Red Bull’s Max Verstappen find some pace at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix to snatch what would be his fourth pole of the season?
It’s going to be an uphill battle, but he’s a four-time world champion for a reason.
You cannot count him out.
Can Ferrari find the pace in Spain?
Many had expected the Scuderia to take a step forwards in the wake of the flexi-wing restrictions introduced by the FIA, but it has not yet materialised.
So, can Lewis Hamilton fight back? Can Charles Leclerc, who is already on the back foot with one fewer set of soft tyres than his peers?
Find out here.
Check out how they finished in FP3
Here’s how the results shaped up in the final practice session of the weekend, and final ever one at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the sport heads to Madrid from 2026.
Oscar Piastri set down a firm benchmark, can anyone else find a way to respond at qualifying for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix?
High speed corners and loose rear ends
Check out how close Lando Norris came to losing his McLaren car on his first soft tyre push lap in Free Practice 3 earlier this Saturday.
Such a moment in Q3 would be horrendous for his chances of pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Will anyone be caught out by the loose rear ends of their Formula 1 cars, as they chase every bit of time possible?
Welcome to the blog for qualifying!
Oscar Piastri already has one hand on the pole position trophy after his sensational lap in Free Practice 3 saw him clear Lando Norris by half-a-second, with a comfortable margin of over seven tenths to Charles Leclerc in third.
Can anyone fight back in Barcelona? Join Total-Motorsport.com for qualifying at the F1 2025 Spanish Grand Prix as McLaren find themselves poised to do battle for pole.
Where to Watch 2025 Spanish GP Qualifying?
For viewers in the United States, 2025 Spanish GP Qualifying will be shown on ESPN2, with streaming coverage via ESPN+.
In the UK, all sessions, including 2025 Spanish GP Qualifying, are available on Sky Sports F1. And fans in Australia can catch all the action from Barcelona on Fox Sports 506, Kayo Sports, and Foxtel.
What time is Qualifying for the 2025 Spanish GP?
Qualifying for the 2025 Spanish GP begins at 4:00pm local time on Saturday in Barcelona. That means a similar start for F1 fans in the UK, where Qualifying begins at 3:00pm on Saturday afternoon.
Over in the USA, the 2025 Spanish GP Qualifying session begins at 10:00am ET on Saturday morning, which means an early morning 6:00am PT start for those on the West Coast.
