15:40
Gasly improves but only to P13. Colapinto similarly finds pace but displaces his team-mate.
Norris in Barcelona
© XPB Images
F1 Barcelona GP Saturday practice and qualifying as it happened
Live coverage of Saturday at the F1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix
KEY MOMENTS
- Russell fastest in FP3 from Piastri
- Antonelli looks to make it six wins in a row
- McLaren breached Friday curfew for precautionary reasons
The seventh round of the 2026 Formula 1 season takes place at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
There is perhaps no track on the F1 calendar better known to the drivers than the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the pre-pre-season behind-closed-doors test having taken place at the Spanish venue earlier this year, and endless tests having taken place on the circuit across the years.
With long straights and several major braking zones, overtaking is certainly possible on the 4.65km layout, but the action can be somewhat muted, with few viewing the venue as a favourite.
After the build-up to the weekend was dominated by Alpine's appeal against penalties handed to Pierre Gasly in Monaco, the Frenchman was returned to the podium positions on Friday morning. Red Bull and McLaren have now registered an intent to appeal that decision, meaning the topic continues to rumble on.
As for the on-track action, Kimi Antonelli is looking to further extend his championship lead with a sixth victory in succession. He has already equalled Lewis Hamilton's career-best winning streak, and could surpass that marker on Sunday. Highlighting the achievement, only Max Verstappen (10), Sebastian Vettel (9), Nico Roseberg (7), Michael Schumacher (7), and Alberto Ascari (7) have won more than five in a row.
But it was McLaren and Lando Norris who led the way on Friday, with George Russell second from Oscar Piastri. Antonelli was fifth in FP2, behind Charles Leclerc, but Lewis Hamilton could manage only ninth place after scoring back-to-back podiums in Canada and Monaco.
Aston Martin appears set for perhaps its worst weekend of the season so far, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll at the foot of the time sheet, with the latter over four seconds off the pace, and home hero Alonso not much better off.
2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix Saturday schedule
FP3 11:30pm BST - 12:30pm BST
Qualifying: 3:00pm BST - 4:00pm BST
13 Jun 2026
15:40
Hulkenberg goes to P10, Lindblad aborts and is out in P11.
15:39
Lawson moves up to P8 and Hadjar is down to P9!
15:39
Hadjar is going to drop out here. Gasly and Lawson are improving, and that alone would be enough to know out the Red Bull driver.
15:39
P6 for Piastri, pushing Hadjar down. Norris goes fourth, and Hadjar edges ever closer to the drop zone.
15:38
Personal best sectors for both McLaren drivers, but nothing challenging the front.
15:37
All the drivers from sixth up have remained in the garage. Those drivers are the Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull pairings.
15:36
After being last out for their first runs, Norris and Piastri are the first out this time, bolting on new tyres after running used softs for the previous laps.
15:35
Just 0.067s separates the top three drivers - Russell, Leclerc, and Antonelli.
15:34
Hulkenberg's time has been deleted for track limits. He will need to go again. His time would have put him in P12.
15:33
McLaren are struggling here. Norris is P8 and Piastri only P10. This is now looking like a Mercedes vs Ferrari battle for pole. What has happened to McLaren's early weekend pace?
15:32
Leclerc now goes fastest with a 1m15.964s effort, as Antonelli goes second, but then Russell pushes them both back, going fastest with a 1m15.228s.
15:31
Verstappen delivers the first wow lap of Q2, as a 1m15.484s sees him improve by a second from Q1.
15:31
Hulkenberg puts in a 1m16.922s. It's almost a second off his Q1 effort.
15:30
A 1m17.626s for Gasly. That will not be enough.
15:30
Such is the slow pace of the traffic leaving the pits, that Gasly, Colapinto, and Hulkenberg have begun their laps while others are still crawling out onto the track.
15:28
Predictably, out come the rest too, with the Alpine pair next out, then Sainz, Verstappen, and the Racing Bulls pair.
15:27
It's Audi. Out goes Hulkenberg. He was fifth fastest in Q1.
15:27
Who will blink first...?
15:26
Q2 begins
Q2 is underway, but there's no huge rush to take to the track right now.
15:25
Although Stroll is on the back row, it's the first time he has out-qualified Alonso for a Grand Prix for the first time since the 2024 British Grand Prix. Small wins...
15:20
Out in Q1
Those out in Q1 are
17. Ocon
18. Albon
19. Perez
20. Bottas
21. Stroll
22. Alonso
15:19
Lance Stroll pulls a lap out of the bag to best Alonso in the battle of the back row. The first time in 42 races, Stroll has beaten Alonso in qualifying.
15:18
Chequered flag
Ocon falls back into the drop zone, as Perez takes the flag.
15:17
Albon improves to P5, but is pushed back by Bearman. He's now back in the drop zone.