The Brit was consistently one of the quickest throughout qualifying, and his spectacular effort of 1m 14.679s was unbeatable, earning him a third pole position of the season.

“It’s been a great weekend so far, I kind of feel like my old self again, where every lap I’m doing my job and always fighting in those top positions,” Russell said after the session.

Clean slate

“Obviously, the last few races, for numerous reasons, haven’t quite been on our side, but I came into this weekend with just a clean slate, felt good and, yeah, just good to be on pole.”

Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton will also start on the front row, while the young Italian sensation Kimi Antonelli will start in third place for Mercedes – his lowest Grand Prix Qualifying result so far.

The qualifying times. Photo: X/Formula 1

Seven-time World Champion Hamilton was hopeful for a victory in Spain. “All weekend we’ve been kind of four-tenths off these guys (Mercedes), so even with the upgrade we thought maybe that’s where we were,” he said.

“But for us to be that close, less than a tenth between us, it’s a real showing of the hard work everyone at the factory has done to bring these upgrades to this track, so a big, big thank you to everyone back in Maranello. 

“We’ve just got to keep pushing, keep developing, and I’m hoping tomorrow we can squeeze some more out of this, and I hope we keep up with these guys for once.”

McLaren and Red Bull

McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed P4 ahead of the Red Bulls Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, with the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri taking P7. Eye-catching performances from Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg saw them finish eighth and ninth, respectively.

Lastly, Ferrari’s Charl Leclerc crashed straight into the barriers early in Q3 and subsequently failed to set a lap time, leaving him to start the race from P10. 

‘There’s no excuse.’

After the session, he admitted he was ashamed. “Q2 lap was really good, I think all corners we were the strongest, nearly,” said Leclerc.

“Turn 4 was the weak corner for me, so I released the brakes, and I think I carried quite a lot more speed in, which was okay mid-corner, but I ended up on the dirtier part of the track and lost the car. There’s no excuse, it's a mistake.”

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg