“To be honest, the car felt really good through quali, especially through Q1. I don’t really know where we missed so much at the end of Q2.

“It was a pretty good lap, the car felt pretty good. It’s something we’ll review. It’s the first time that we’ve lacked any speed through this weekend.

“It’s going to be tough, we’re going to try and move forward like everybody.

“Let’s see what’s possible.”

Unlike Monaco, though, Barcelona is a much easier track to overtake on, given its high speed corners and two Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones.

Even on a weekend that’s seen new stricter technical regulations for front wings, McLaren were still able to lock out the front row, as Oscar Piastri claimed his fourth pole position of the season, with teammate Lando Norris second.

Piastri’s pole margin of 0.209s is the largest this season, as a sign of how close this year’s competition has been.

In the 34 completed grands prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, 24 of them have been won by the driver that started on pole, with another seven by a driver starting second.

Max Verstappen, who won the Spanish Grand Prix in 2024, will start third, as Mercedes’ George Russell qualified fourth. The two drivers posted the exact same lap time in Q3, however Verstappen will start higher after doing so before Russell.

Lawson’s teammate Isack Hadjar was able to reach Q3, and will start ninth, after bettering the Kiwi yet again.

Taking to a track nearing 50 degrees in Q1, Lawson’s first lap saw him to the top of the standings, crossing the line in 1m 13.482s – albeit with half the field yet to set a time.

By the time the 20 drivers had all set at least one push lap, Lawson sat 14th, and just 0.017s from elimination.

With just minutes left in Q1, a fault for Franco Colapinto’s Alpine caused a delay in pit lane, leading to a logjam of cars on track.

Lawson completed his lap without issue, set a time of 1m 13.390s, and moved into the top 10, 0.290s clear of the elimination zone, and comfortably into Q2 as he finished with the eight-best time in Q1.

Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who was switched with Lawson by Red Bull after just two grands prix, qualified last, and missed Q2 by 0.195s. Tsunoda reported floor damage to his race engineer, but continues the 2025 trend of Red Bull’s second car struggling.

In the second session, Lawson immediately improved on his Q1 effort, and went third with a lap of 1m 13.102s, but again fell down the standings as more and more drivers set their first marks.

By the time all 15 remaining drivers had set a lap, Lawson was 12th, and 0.110s short of getting into Q3, with a projected knockout lap time of 1m 12.70s.

However, Lawson fell just short of that projected mark, and set a final lap of 1m 12.763s to start 13th.

Replays showed a mistake through turn 12, where Lawson went over too much of the curb, and lost vital time readjusting on the straight.

Lawson does boast plenty of meaningful experience in Barcelona. In 2020, he claimed a second-place finish in the Formula Three sprint race, and claimed two ninth placings in Formula Two, two years later.

The Spanish Grand Prix begins at 1am Monday (NZ time).

Spanish Grand Prix starting grid

Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.