Charles LeClerc produced a stunning lap to take his first Spanish pole position.
The Monegasque driver was the only driver on track to record a time in 1:18s, as he beat title rival Max Verstappen to the front of the grid. Leclerc did not have it easy in qualifying, as he overcooked his first run at the chicane and spun out.
Current F1 champion Max Verstappen could only muster P2 as he encountered yet more power unit issues. He had recorded an impressive time initially, however on his final run he reported losing power and was instructed to box.
Sainz qualified P3 at his home race, whilst Sergio Perez put his Red Bull P5. He qualified ahead of the Mercedes of George Russell in P4, whose team has been having a much better weekend. His British teammate and seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton had a better qualifying, finishing P6 in the much improved Mercedes.
P7 is F1 barista Valtteri Bottas, he had another good showing in the Alfa Romeo. He continued his run of qualifying in the top ten and ahead of his Chinese teammate who could only manage P15.
The two Haas drivers Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher formed an Australian sandwich around the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo, who put his McLaren P9. The great Dane put his Haas P8 and his German counterpart Mick Schumacher put his Haas P10. Mick had initially qualified P11, but Lando Norris had his time deleted for exceeding track limits at T12 on his last run. This dropped him to P11 and out in Q2.
Esteban Ocon had a difficult afternoon and could only place his Alpine P12 on the grid for tomorrows race. He came over the radio after he had been eliminated, and sounded rather unimpressed with his team. He also insinuated some pace had been left on the table and feels there is more to come out of the car.
His teammate and hometown hero Fernando Alonso went out in Q1, a lowly P17. His final lap was somewhat blocked by Lando Norris, although neither driver was on a hot lap and they were both on a warm up lap at the time.
The Alpha Tauri duo of Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly pulled their cars into P13 and P14 respectively. Gasly had hampered running in FP3 with car issues, but neither driver looked particularly challenging to the top 10 for a place in Q3.
Aston Martin brought some upgrades to Barcelona this weekend, bearing a striking resemblance to the Red Bull which has raised more than a few eyebrows. However, any concerns of the Silverstone team copying or stealing intellectual property can likely be laid to result. Sebastian Vettel went out in P16 and his Canadian counterpart could only manage a lowly P18. Hopefully Aston can have a change of fortune soon, as the amount of money being pumped into that team is not insignificant.
Taking up their places at the rear of the grid are the Williams of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi, who qualified stone dead last. Again. It does make one wonder how much longer Latifi will occupy that seat. Given Williams stated last year they do not explicitly need his sponsorship money, and with young drivers coming through he must be looking over his shoulder.