F1 2023 Spanish Grand Prix starting grid with penalties applied

Sainz and Verstappen — Photo: © LAT Images

Spanish Grand Prix

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F1 2023 Spanish Grand Prix starting grid with penalties applied

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Chris Deeley

Sunday 4 June 2023 13:31

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Max Verstappen will start on pole for the fourth time this season at this Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, with home favourite Carlos Sainz alongside him on the front row.

A dramatic qualifying session saw big names knocked out early, with Sainz's team-mate Charles Leclerc falling in Q1 and Verstappen's sister Red Bull of Sergio Perez exiting in Q2, along with the Mercedes of George Russell.

Lando Norris qualified a shock third, while Pierre Gasly continued Alpine's recent good form by setting the fourth fastest time. However, the Frenchman was handed two separate three-place grid penalties for impeding other cars earlier in the session and will start 10th.

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That moves Lewis Hamilton up to fourth on the grid, where he's followed by Lance Stroll and Gasly's team-mate Esteban Ocon.

Disappointments for big names

2023's 'best of the rest' candidate Fernando Alonso will start just eighth on the grid after appearing to damage the floor of his car early in the session, sandwiching him between the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg and the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

Perez and Russell start 11th and 12th after their respective failures in Q2, with Zhou Guanyu, Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top 15.

The biggest shock of the session was that single-lap specialist Leclerc couldn't force his Ferrari into even the second round of qualifying, putting his car in a nominal 19th place – although both he and slowest runner Logan Sargeant will both start from the pits after having their cars worked on.