McLaren dominates the Spanish Grand Prix as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris secure a historic one-two in Barcelona after 25 years.
As after every Grand Prix, it’s time to look at the standout statistics, the records that were broken, the impressive streaks that are still going, or suddenly came to an end, over the past weekend.
Qualifying – Piastri Claims Spanish Pole
Oscar Piastri outqualifies Lando Norris for the fifth time this season in nine Grands Prix. Last year, he only beat his teammate four times over the whole season. So he’s already done better!
The Australian takes his fourth career pole position, all achieved this year, with the biggest gap for a pole position this season on Saturday: 0.209s.
Lando Norris takes 2nd place, allowing McLaren to lock out the front row in Spain for the first time since 1998, when Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard occupied the top two positions.
Since 1991, 32 of the 35 winners in Barcelona have started from the front row (including this year).
Verstappen Misses Front Row
Max Verstappen qualifies 3rd: it’s the first time since 2020 that he doesn’t start from the front row here.
George Russell, 4th, finds himself in the same position as in 2024, where he took the lead at Turn 1.
It’s only the second time this season that Hamilton beats Charles Leclerc in a timed lap during qualifying.
Kimi Antonelli (6th) makes his first top-10 start since Miami.
Leclerc (7th) remains outside the top four in Barcelona for the third consecutive season.
Pierre Gasly qualifies 8th: only Bahrain gave him a better starting position in 2025.
Isack Hadjar (9th) confirms his strong consistency: he reaches Q3 for the fifth time this season, and the third time in a row.
Fernando Alonso, 10th, makes a third consecutive Q3 appearance, a first for him in 2025.
Qualifying Surprises in Barcelona
Alex Albon qualifies 11th, representing Williams’ best qualifying result in Barcelona since 2017.
Gabriel Bortoleto (12th) achieves the best qualifying of his young Formula 1 career.
Liam Lawson, 13th, has now been outqualified by Hadjar six times in seven races since returning to Racing Bulls.
Lance Stroll, 14th, starts from exactly the same position as in 2024 on this circuit.
Ollie Bearman (15th) closes a difficult session for Haas: it’s the team’s worst combined qualifying result in Spain since 2021.
Esteban Ocon (17th) records his worst-ever qualifying at this circuit.
Carlos Sainz is eliminated in Q1 for the first time since Abu Dhabi 2023, an unexpected setback in front of his home crowd.
Yuki Tsunoda, 20th, finishes last, it’s the second time a Red Bull driver ends up in that position in qualifying this year, after Lawson in China.
Race – Piastri Leads McLaren One-Two
McLaren scores its 52nd one-two finish in Formula 1 and its first in Spain since 2000, when Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard locked out the top two spots in Barcelona.
Oscar Piastri takes his fifth win of the season.
He becomes only the third McLaren driver in history (!) to claim eight consecutive podiums, after Ayrton Senna in 1988 and Lewis Hamilton in 2007.
Lando Norris finishes 2nd in Barcelona for the second year in a row.
Charles Leclerc, 3rd, steps onto the Spanish Grand Prix podium for the first time, at his eighth attempt. It’s his second consecutive podium, after Monaco.
Ferrari returns to the podium in Barcelona for the first time since 2017.
Midfield Shines in Spain
George Russell, 4th, matches exactly his result from last year, with the same starting and finishing position.
Nico Hülkenberg, 5th, achieves Sauber’s best result since Imola 2022 (where Bottas finished 5th). It’s also his best result in Barcelona in twelve starts, and his personal best in five years, when he was racing for Renault.
This result allows Sauber to jump two places in the Constructors’ standings (from 10th to 8th).
Lewis Hamilton, 6th, records his worst finish in Barcelona since his crash with Rosberg at the start in 2016. Nevertheless, it’s his eighth points finish this season, the best total for a driver without a podium.
Isack Hadjar, 7th, further improves his career-best result, after his 8th place in Monaco. He gives Racing Bulls a second consecutive top-10 finish.
Pierre Gasly, 8th, achieves his best Spanish Grand Prix result since finishing 8th with Red Bull in 2019. Alpine scores points for only the second time this year. The French team still sits last in the Constructors’ standings, however.
Fernando Alonso, 9th, scores his first points of the season at home.
Verstappen Slips to Tenth
Max Verstappen, initially 5th at the line, is classified 10th after a 10-second penalty. It’s his worst finish in Barcelona since 2017 and his lowest classified race result since Monza 2017.
Gabriel Bortoleto, 12th, earns his best Grand Prix finish.
Carlos Sainz, 14th, fails to score points for the first time in eleven Spanish Grand Prix appearances.
Kimi Antonelli, forced to retire due to a power unit failure, remains outside the points for the third consecutive race. Mercedes hadn’t retired in Barcelona since the Hamilton–Rosberg collision at the start of the 2016 race.
Alex Albon, also forced to retire, records his first DNF of the season, after having had seven last year.
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