Most teams slower than last year in hotter temperatures at Catalunya

Only two of Formula 1’s 10 teams are lapping quicker at the Circuit de Catalunya this year than they did in 2024.

The Spanish Grand Prix may be taking place three weeks earlier in the year than last season but ambient and track temperatures have been higher so far.

The FIA also introduced new regulations imposing tougher checks on the stiffness of teams’ front wings this weekend. That may have had an effect on lap times, though some drivers suggested it would only slow lap times by a tenth of a second at most for any teams affected.

Sector times

Oscar Piastri put McLaren on pole position for the second year in a row in Spain. He fell slightly short of the record-setting pace his team mate Lando Norris achieved last year.

However Piastri had the satisfaction of knowing he put his three best sector times together on his final effort. Norris can’t say the same, but even if he had, he wouldn’t have beaten Piastri.

P.	#	Driver	S1	S2	S3	Ultimate lap (deficit)
1	81	Oscar Piastri	21.259 (1)	28.580 (1)	21.707 (2)	1’11.546
2	4	Lando Norris	21.270 (2)	28.646 (2)	21.742 (4)	1’11.658 (+0.097)
3	63	George Russell	21.376 (3)	28.719 (5)	21.716 (3)	1’11.811 (+0.037)
4	1	Max Verstappen	21.454 (4)	28.704 (4)	21.680 (1)	1’11.838 (+0.010)
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	21.476 (7)	28.700 (3)	21.798 (6)	1’11.974 (+0.071)
6	12	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	21.524 (8)	28.740 (7)	21.847 (7)	1’12.111
7	16	Charles Leclerc	21.458 (5)	28.729 (6)	21.944 (10)	1’12.131
8	10	Pierre Gasly	21.594 (13)	28.747 (8)	21.858 (8)	1’12.199
9	14	Fernando Alonso	21.591 (12)	28.879 (10)	21.772 (5)	1’12.242 (+0.042)
10	6	Isack Hadjar	21.564 (10)	28.822 (9)	21.866 (9)	1’12.252
11	23	Alexander Albon	21.465 (6)	29.111 (13)	22.065 (12)	1’12.641
12	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	21.556 (9)	29.102 (12)	22.098 (14)	1’12.756
13	30	Liam Lawson	21.693 (17)	29.083 (11)	21.987 (11)	1’12.763
14	18	Lance Stroll	21.604 (14)	29.185 (15)	22.125 (15)	1’12.914 (+0.124)
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	21.713 (18)	29.182 (14)	22.082 (13)	1’12.977 (+0.213)
16	87	Oliver Bearman	21.666 (15)	29.236 (16)	22.133 (16)	1’13.035 (+0.039)
17	31	Esteban Ocon	21.680 (16)	29.261 (17)	22.211 (19)	1’13.152 (+0.049)
18	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	21.571 (11)	29.370 (19)	22.262 (20)	1’13.203
19	43	Franco Colapinto	21.768 (19)	29.361 (18)	22.205 (18)	1’13.334
20	22	Yuki Tsunoda	21.804 (20)	29.379 (20)	22.202 (17)	1’13.385

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Teams’ performance

There was nothing to choose between Red Bull and Mercedes as Max Verstappen and George Russell set identical times to within a thousandth of a second. Alpine are enjoying one of their best weekends of the year just one week after being the slowest team in Monaco.

However the medium-to-high speed corners of the Circuit de Catalunya clearly don’t suit Haas, who have fallen to last place in the ranking for the first time since the season-opening race at Melbourne.

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Field performance

This race is expected to be the penultimate F1 event at the Circuit de Catalunya. The venue due to host the final race on its current contract next year, and with the new Madring street circuit in Madrid due to take over as the home of the Spanish Grand Prix, it is not expected to return to the schedule in 2027.

With a major change in technical regulations coming next year, which is likely to result in slower cars, Norris’s pole position time from last year may stand as the fastest lap of the circuit for a long time.

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