Charles Leclerc will start the Spanish Grand Prix from pole position alongside title rival Max Verstappen, despite both having issues in the final part of qualifying.
The championship leader’s hopes of securing pole seemed to be faltering when he spun in Q3, leaving him with just one chance to set a flying lap.
However, his one lap was good enough to surpass Verstappen’s earlier effort, while the reigning champion couldn’t improve after suffering a loss of power.
Haas faced a race against time to ensure both cars were able to take part in qualifying after Mick Schumacher suffered a brake fire in final practice, but the team was able to get the German out of the garage midway through Q1.
Fernando Alonso’s hopes of a good qualifying at his home race were dealt a blow when he found himself stuck in traffic, hindering his efforts and leaving him in the bottom five.
A track limits violation cost Lando Norris a place in the top 10 as the McLaren driver had his fastest lap in Q2 deleted, leaving him last than 0.01s outside the top 10.
Norris’s error meant Schumacher made it through to the final part of qualifying for the first time in his career, joining teammate Kevin Magnussen in the top 10.
Leclerc’s teammate, Carlos Sainz, completed the top three, and will start on the second row alongside Mercedes’s George Russell, who outqualified teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Provisional qualifying result:
1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
7. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
8. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
9. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
10. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
11. Lando Norris (McLaren)
12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
13. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
14. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
15. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
16. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
17. Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
19. Alexander Albon (Williams)
20. Nicholas Latifi (Williams)