IL follows: Will McLaren conquer the entire front row?

The third stage of qualifying for the Spanish GP has started.

McLaren started the Spanish GP qualifying session as overwhelming favourites.

The Papaya cars were the only ones at the Catalan circuit that had not undergone front or rear wing repairs due to the stricter regulations.

That’s why the team’s drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have been able to focus solely on honing their performance from the start.

– Based on what we saw in the third practice session, it’s clear that McLaren has a pretty clear lead right now. It’s just a fight for the second row, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner predicted during qualifying to Autosport.

Red Bull had FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski as a guest, who would have preferred to be preparing for Saturday’s Champions League final.

The Pole saw Red Bull’s own Yuki Tsunoda collapse to the last place on the starting grid.

– It was a clean bet, the Japanese himself defended his failure on the team radio.

Tsunoda’s slowness is astonishing, as teammate Max Verstappen even puts the brakes on McLaren.

The Dutchman was third fastest in the second part of the qualifying session, 0.36 seconds slower than Piastr, who set the fastest lap.

Oliver Bearman, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto crashed out of the final qualifying session.