Frantic Qualifying in Madrid

• Kimi Antonelli qualified second with team-mate George Russell sixth for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

• With overtaking predicted to be tough on Sunday, the team’s focus for Saturday was all about extracting the maximum from the W17 on the single lap.

• An interrupted FP3, with the session delayed due to barrier repairs, ended with promise as Kimi topped the times with George showing strong pace, albeit finishing P6 having not been able to complete his ultimate best lap.

• The story of qualifying was dictated firstly by being able to get the tyres working on the out lap and then by being able to hold on to them as they threatened to overheat at the end of the push lap.

• Several challengers for pole emerged throughout and in the final moments of Q3, it was Lando Norris who claimed P1 by just 0.011s from Kimi.

• George was improving on his final lap but suffered from overheating on the tyres from turn 11 onwards and ultimately finished the session P6.

• Tomorrow’s 57-lap race will see the team’s tackle a Grand Prix around the fearsome Madring for the very first time with plenty of unknowns around performance, tyre degradation, and strategy.

Kimi Antonelli

I put together a strong lap on my final effort, and I thought it might have been good enough for pole position. Credit to Lando (Norris) though. He and McLaren did a great job and managed to snatch it away right at the last.

It was a very intense qualifying session where it was difficult to get the balance right with the tyres with the track being so hot. It was difficult to get the out-lap preparation right but then to also make sure you had it in the right window for all of your push lap. Overall, I think we did a good job and can be pleased with our efforts.

Tomorrow will be a big challenge for everyone with lots of unknowns. Whilst overtaking will be tough, I hope we can put Lando under pressure and see what we can do to fight for victory. Managing the tyres will be key so let’s see what we can do.

George Russell

It was a tough qualifying session for me today. The main factor we were managing throughout all the sessions was ensuring we had the tyres in the right window. I had a really good lap in Q1 and hoped that I had the same potential in my last lap of Q3. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a scrappy lap; I had a lot of understeer from turn 11 onwards and lost a couple of tenths from there. The tyres really struggle here with the heat and the long corners, so you can find yourself sliding around, losing more time, and being pushed further down the order.

Understanding the tyres more ahead of tomorrow will be crucial as while it didn’t all come together for me today, I hope tomorrow I’ll be able to make my way through the pack. We saw high tyre degradation on Friday and if that repeats itself tomorrow, then there will definitely be opportunities for us to make good progress.

Toto Wolff, CEO & Team Principal

Coming into the weekend, we didn’t expect to be in the fight for pole. As we moved towards qualifying though we had shown good pace and thought that we may have an opportunity to get P1. We came close but in the final moments, Lando (Norris) pulled out the lap of the weekend so far. Credit to him and McLaren for that; we are still relatively satisfied with our performance though as it gives us a chance to battle at the front tomorrow.

On George’s side, he never felt completely comfortable with the car. We were trying to add more front-wing as qualifying progressed to give him more confidence but that is not the best position to be in as a driver, particularly on a circuit where you want to be hammering in the laps and getting used to the car. That said, it was very close out there and the margins at the front were very small.

Overtaking will be tough tomorrow. It has not looked easy in any of the junior formula races but hopefully we get some good action tomorrow. There are several unknowns that could make for an interesting race too.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We expected this weekend to be more challenging than Monza, not because the car doesn't suit the circuit necessarily, but because this is a track that rewards downforce and we've gone nearly four months without introducing a major update. Even so, our pace through practice was encouraging and, heading into qualifying, we felt we were firmly in the fight for pole position.

Traffic management was particularly difficult in the early stages because a competitive lap here relies on having a clean out lap. Once we came through Q1, though, we were able to build some rhythm and both drivers continued to find time as track grip improved.

Kimi put together a strong final lap but ultimately fell just short of matching Lando (Norris). George also improved on his last run but suffered front washout in Turn 11 and then experienced higher tyre temperatures through the remainder of the lap, which cost him grip and lap time.

Making progress tomorrow will not be straightforward as overtaking looks very difficult. However, if the tyre degradation we saw earlier in the weekend remains a factor, it could create opportunities for us to be creative with strategy and put ourselves in the fight.

FP3 Result

Qualifying Result