SUNDAY JUNE 1, 2025: BARCELONA-CATALUNYA - MCLAREN SHOW CONTINUES!

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Oscar Piastri confirmed his excellent form and secured his fourth pole position of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. McLaren thus secured a papaya front row lockout ahead of a strategically important race, which will be the last at this legendary circuit before the Spanish Grand Prix moves to Madrid in 2026.

McLaren in best form of the season

Australian driver Oscar Piastri dominated qualifying with a time of 1:11.546, beating his teammate Lando Norris by a solid 0.209 seconds. This gap represents the largest pole position margin in this year's season, which only confirms the current strength of the orange cars.

"A bit cheeky," Piastri commented on the situation where Norris tried to use slipstream from his teammate. Nevertheless, the Australian kept his cool and showed in the decisive moment why he currently leads the world championship with 161 points.

McLaren currently dominates both the drivers' and constructors' championships. Piastri leads by only three points ahead of Norris, while in the team competition McLaren has a huge lead of 319 points ahead of Mercedes (147) and Red Bull (143).

Starting grid full of surprises

Behind McLaren, Max Verstappen and George Russell will line up on the second row, having set identical times to the thousandth of a second. Verstappen got third position thanks to setting his time earlier at the finish.

Lewis Hamilton in Ferrari colors took fifth place as the best Scuderia driver, while his teammate Charles Leclerc finished only seventh. Rookie Kimi Antonelli managed to get Mercedes to sixth place.

The biggest shock of qualifying was Yuki Tsunoda's collapse, who was the only one not to advance from Q1 and will start from last place. "I felt it was a clean lap, it just seems I couldn't reach the performance," the disappointed Japanese driver explained.

Extreme conditions and new regulations

Qualifying took place in extreme conditions with track temperature reaching 48°C at an air temperature of 29°C. The FIA also introduced new technical directives, which however did not affect McLaren and the team continued in their dominance.

Fernando Alonso as the local hero managed to get Aston Martin into the top ten in ninth position, which could help him in front of the home crowd in Sunday's race.

Expectations before the race

Sunday's race will offer several key battles. The start will be traditionally important, especially the long straight into the first corner may offer overtaking opportunities. George Russell managed to take the lead here last year after starting from fourth position.

A two-stop strategy is expected, which in high temperatures could be even more complicated due to greater tire wear. McLaren will have to find the right balance between speed and sustainability.

The question remains how McLaren will manage the battle between their drivers. Piastri has a lead of only three points over Norris, which means every point will be important for the final decision about the championship title.

If McLaren maintains positions 1-2, their championship lead will be almost insurmountable. However, if Verstappen can use his starting position and win, the championship could come alive again.