Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Qualifying: George Russell restores the order, Lewis Hamilton snatches P2
F1 NewsSaturday, 13 June 2026 at 17:00
George Russell confirmed his rejuvenated form this weekend as he took pole for the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix while Lewis Hamilton flew the Ferrari flag to second on a day when Charles Leclerc found the barriers.
It was a tricky Qualifying session with the track temperature making managing he tyres over one lap a nightmare but Russell put himself in the best position to fight for a second victory in the 2026 Formula 1 season after he was rudely abrupted by his teammate Kimi Antonelli who went on to win everything since then.
The Championship leader, on the other hand, did not seem at one with his car and we can only wonder whether missing out on FP1 put him on the back foot as he could not challenge his teammate for pole, having to settle for third, over three tenths off pole.
It is the first time this season that Antonelli will not feature on the front row of a Grand Prix starting grid and the reason was an on-form Hamilton who gave Ferrari something to smile by taking second place missing out on pole by just 0.064s, while Leclerc binned his SF-26.
Leclerc showed improved pace this weekend and was apparently happier with the Carbon Industries brakes Ferrari bolted to his car after suffering with the Brembos he was using before.
But his crash was not down to the brakes, as he lost he rear of his Ferrari while putting down the power in Turn 4 and ended up in the barriers in Q3 bringing up the Red flag.
Despite showing promising form in practice, McLaren faded in Qualifying as Lando Norris was their best-placed driver and was fourth fastest ahead of Max Verstappen who was fifth fastest in the Red Bull Racing RB22 just 0.022s behind his 2025 rival.
Isack Hadjar was one place behind his teammate, sixth fastest, and impressively less than a tenth slower as Oscar Piastri took seventh in the other McLaren.
Liam Lawson did well to take eighth for Racing Bulls as Nico Hulkenberg put his Audi in ninth while Leclerc was classified tenth following his crash.
What the top three said
"It's been a great weekend so far," a satisfied Russell said after taking his tenth F1 career pole. "I feel like my old-self again where every lap I'm doing the job, always fighting in those top positions.
"The last few races for numerous reasons haven't quite been on our side but I came in this weekend with a clean slate, felt good and it's great to be on pole.
"It's going to be an interesting race tomorrow. Lewis did an amazing job to get up there. That was a real surprise. We thought the fight was with ourselves and McLaren but Lewis has been quick all this session.
"I'm sure there will be a fight on our hands, so tomorrow won't be easy but I feel ready," Russell concluded.
Hamilton added: "It feels great to be up here. Honestly, this weekend has been so difficult.
"Normally it's ok to miss P1, but it had a huge offset," he said referring to sitting our FP1. "In P2 I was just over a second off and I didn't quite feel comfortable. These tyres only last one lap, so you only have two shots at it in each session. In P3 I was easily four or five tenths off and I was thinking where I was going to get that pace.
"Between P3 and Qualifying I went off the track to my motorhome, came back and in Q1 I was first, so I knew I had a good balance and was comfortable.
"Q2 was a little bit harder with traffic. The Mercedes guys did a good lap and congrats to George, but we are in a good a position to be able to fight tomorrow. We have a race.
"All weekend we have been four tenths off these guys. Even with the upgrade we thought that's maybe where we were.
"For us to be that close - less than a tenth - is a real showing of the hard work everyone has done to bring these upgrades to the track.
"We've got to keep pushing and developing. I'm hoping tomorrow we can squeeze more out of this and keep up with these guys for once," the seven-time F1 Champion concluded.
As for Antonelli, he said: "It's been a little bit of a difficult weekend so far. I didn't really have the feeling with the car.
"The long run was strong yesterday but today I've been lacking a little bit, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
"We will try to get a good start, then make the best use of the tow," he concluded.
Q1: One Williams in, the other out!
Qualifying started in clear conditions, with the heat not getting any better as track temperature rose over 50 degrees Celsius with air temperature at 31 degrees.
That meant drivers had a challenge trying to keep the Pirelli tyres in their optimal window throughout the lap and avoid them overheating in the final sector.
The top teams took their time before sending their drivers out as the light turned green at the end of the pitlane.
Williams, Haas, Aston Martin, and Cadillac were the first out.
Here we go then... qualifying is under way! 🙌
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2026
Q1 begins 👉#F1 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/lf03aL1bkK
With less than 12 minutes remaining, more drivers made their way out on track. McLaren stayed behind a bit more.
Verstappen was the first of the top teams to start a flying lap, went fastest. Leclerc came next and went even faster as Hadjar took third with Antonelli going second fastest only Russell to come along and claim the top spot.
Hamilton then came and posted the fastest time as the McLarens we doing their outlaps.
Norris only went fifth fastest as Piastri then took the place from his teammate.
Order: Hamilton - Russell - Leclerc - Antonelli - Piastri - Norris - Verstappen - Lindblad - Hadjar - Bortoleto.
Lance Stroll had an off road excursion into the gravel and brought out a brief Yellow flag. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon also had off moments.
Albon going very wide at Turn 9 😮
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2026
He's currently P20 but he'll get one more chance to advance to Q2 #F1 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/vSiteRww2A
With less than five minutes remaining, the second round of laps of Q1 began and the top 11 drivers did not bother to head out on track.
As a result, Hamilton led the pack with his 1:15.625, 0.092s ahead of Russell with Leclerc 0.339s off the pace in third.
The rest of the top 16: Antonelli - Hulkenberg - Piastri - Norris - Verstappen - Arvid Lindblad - Hadjar - Oliver Bearman - Franco Colapinto - Pierre Gasly - Gabriel Bortoleto - Lawson - Carlos Sainz.
Esteban Ocon was the first to miss out, 17th fastest and losing out to Sainz by 0.192s.
Albon was 18th fastest in the second Williams ahead of Sergio Perez in the Cadillac who was 19th, followed teammate Valtteri Bottas in 20th.
Stroll and Fernando Alonso were 21st and 22nd respectively.
Q2: Hulkenberg makes Q3 for first time in 2026
With the green light at the end of the pitlane illuminated, signaling the start of Q2, there were no takers as drivers waited with the first cars starting to make their way out on the track with around 12 minutes remaining.
Gasly started his timed lap first and went fastest as Colapinto followed and went faster with Hulkenberg in their wake taking the top spot, but got his lap deleted for track limits.
Then Verstappen went to the top as Lindblad went second fastest. Hadjar then took second as Leclerc followed and jumped to the top.
Antonelli then came second as Russell dropped Leclerc to second with Hamilton going fourth.
Piastri went ninth as Norris was only eighth as both McLarens were on used Soft tyres.
Norris radioed: "I have so much rear locking, everywhere, it is dreadful."
Order after first runs: Russell - Leclerc - Antonelli - Hamilton - Verstappen- Hadjar - Lindblad - Norris - Lawson - Piastri.
First Q2 push laps done and it's George who's quickest 💨
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2026
TOP 6
Russell
Leclerc
Antonelli
Hamilton
Verstappen
Hadjar
BOTTOM 6
Bortoleto
Colapinto
Bearman
Gasly
Sainz
Hulkenberg#F1 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/VJRXqFmEqK
With four minutes remaining, McLaren sent their drivers out for the second round of laps in Q2 as the top six drivers remained in the garages.
With the new Softs on their respective McLarens, Norris improved to fourth and Piastri was only seventh.
In the end, Russell was the fastest with a lap time of 1:15.228, 0.053s ahead of Leclerc in second with Antonelli 0.014s further down in third.
The rest of the top ten were: Norris - Hamilton - Verstappen - Piastri - Lawson - Hadjar - Hulkenberg.
Lindblad was the first to lose out on Q3, 11th fastest and just 0.072s slower than Hulkenberg.
Bortoleto was 12th fastest in the second Audi ahead of Colapinto who was 13th ahead of Gasly in 14th.
Bearman was 15th with Sainz in 16th.
Q3: Leclerc crashes
As was the case in the previous two stages, no one rushed out on track at the start of Q3.
With less than 12 minutes remaining, the cars were fired up and started making their way out on the track for the final shootout on Saturday afternoon in Barcelona.
Verstappen started his timed lap first, followed by Piastri and Norris. The Dutchman went fastest as the Aussie went to the top but the Briton could not complete his lap.
That was due to Leclerc going off track at Turn 4 and ended up in the barriers bringing out the Red flag.
Replay showed that his SF-26 snapped when he put his foot down as he couldn't hold it and it was game over.
That's a pretty big hit 💥
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 13, 2026
Here's the moment Leclerc's qualifying came to an end 🎥#F1 #BarcelonaGP pic.twitter.com/XmX5kp76mw
Eight and half minutes remained on the clock as only Verstappen and Piastri managed banker laps.
Antonelli drove up to the pit exit waiting for the restart with Hadjar behind him and Russell joining them. Hamilton followed.
Antonelli went first, went only third as Russell came along and went to provisional pole.
Hadjar went fifth fastest as Hamilton was only sixth and with four minutes remaining, Norris, Lawson, and Hulkenberg had no lap times.
With around three and half minutes remaining, the drivers went out for their final laps in Q3.
Antonelli went first and improved to go on provisional pole but Russell struck back and took that top spot.
Norris came and put it in third as Piastri followed and went only fourth with Verstappen coming through and took fourth as Hamilton was on his lap and went second fastest.
Final order: Russell on pole, the Hamilton - Antonelli - Norris - Verstappen - Piastri - Lawson - Hulkenberg - Leclerc.
Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Qualifying Provisional Classification
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