Barcelona, May 31 (IANS) Oscar Piastri secured his fourth pole position of the season in a thrilling end to Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix here on Saturday. The McLaren driver edged out teammate Lando Norris in the final moments of Q3 and will hope to rebuild his lead in the race on Sunday, with the British driver just three points short.

Piastri had set the pace through Q1 and Q2, but Norris looked to have stolen the spotlight with a stunning opening lap in Q3 to grab the provisional pole. However, Piastri responded when it mattered most, clocking a 1m 11.546s on his final run to outpace Norris by 0.209s and seal the front spot on the grid.

Max Verstappen delivered another consistent performance to line up third for Red Bull, narrowly ahead of George Russell. The Mercedes driver set an identical time to Verstappen but was classified fourth as he crossed the line later.

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest Ferrari in fifth, finishing ahead of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli in sixth and teammate Charles Leclerc in seventh. Pierre Gasly secured the eighth for Alpine, with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar continuing his impressive run in ninth. Fernando Alonso delighted the local crowd by placing his Aston Martin in 10th.

Just missing out on Q3 was Williams’ Alex Albon, three-hundredths of a second off the mark. He was followed by Gabriel Bortoleto (Kick Sauber) in P12, Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and Ollie Bearman (Haas), all exiting in Q2.

Q1 saw several surprises, with Nico Hulkenberg (Kick Sauber), Esteban Ocon (Haas), and home favourite Carlos Sainz (Williams) eliminated early, the latter finishing a disappointing P18. Alpine’s Franco Colapinto suffered a pit lane issue and could not improve, ending up 19th.

Yuki Tsunoda had a tough session, finishing 20th and last for Red Bull, significantly off Verstappen’s pace.

–IANS

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