George Russell managed to top the timesheets on Saturday in Spain, claiming pole position for Sunday’s Barcelona Grand Prix following a late red flag incident.
Russell is looking to stop his team-mate Kimi Antonelli from continuing his F1 title charge this weekend and after making a statement earlier in the day when he topped the timesheets in FP3, Russell went one better to secure pole whilst Antonelli only finished third-fastest.
The 28-year-old Mercedes star will be joined by seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton on the front row ahead of the 66-lap race after the Ferrari star went fastest earlier in the session during Q1.
Charles Leclerc then quickly became the faster Ferrari in Q2 and a potential contender for pole position.
But things went south for the Monegasque star in Q3 when the 28-year-old lost control at Turn 4 and went off hard into the barriers. The incident triggered a red flag and required the medical car to be sent out with around nine minutes left on the clock, marking Leclerc’s second crash in seven days.
At present, the extent of damage to Leclercâs SF-26 is unclear and unless he picks up any grid penalties for replacing the gearbox or any power unit parts, he will be starting Sundayâs Barcelona GP from P10.
McLaren looked as if they could threaten the Silver Arrows dominance ahead of the competitive session but even Martin Brundle was left scratching his head over the poor performance of the papaya squad on Saturday.
Reigning champion Lando Norris finished the qualifying session in P4 whilst Oscar Piastri only went seventh-fastest,
F1 Qualifying Results: Barcelona Grand Prix 2026
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1:14.679 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.064sec |
| 3 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.319sec |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.322sec |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.342sec |
| 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | +0.398sec |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +0.411sec |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +1.863sec |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +1.978sec |
| 10 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | |
| 11 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | ELIMINATED IN Q2 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | ELIMINATED IN Q2 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | ELIMINATED IN Q2 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | ELIMINATED IN Q2 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | ELIMINATED IN Q2 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | ELIMINATED IN Q2 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | ELIMINATED IN Q1 |
| 18 | Alex Albon | Williams | ELIMINATED IN Q1 |
| 19 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | ELIMINATED IN Q1 |
| 20 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | ELIMINATED IN Q1 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | ELIMINATED IN Q1 |
| 22 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | ELIMINATED IN Q1 |
Changes to F1 Qualifying in 2026
There are a couple of changes to the way qualifying works this year, not quite as sweeping as the new technical regulations.
Firstly we now have 22 cars on the grid, so instead of five cars exiting after Q1 and Q2, we will have six being eliminated. That still leaves 10 for the pole shootout in Q3.
The other notable change is in the timings – Q3 now gets an extra minute and lasts for 13 rather than 12.
