Key events
Gerard Piqué, meanwhile, wearing beige with beige including a knitted affair on top, doesn’t know whop’s going to win. More news as I get it; sadly we’ve no snap at which to chortle.
Flavio Briatore, wearing natty specs and now working for Alpine, is in a good mood. He’s going to do “everything necessary to make the team competitive”, but asked to specify, he asks in return to be given a chance to work it out.
Also going on…
It’s absolutely kicking in the grandstand, a raft of orange-clad spectators bouncing about. Atmosphere is building…
Nothing to do with F1 but everything to do with everything. My eyeballs are sweating hard; check it out.
We’ve had four different drivers in pole the last four races, which perhaps tells us that Red Bull and Verstappen are coming back towards the pack. It’ll still take something staggering to stop them recording a fourth title in a row, but this season is already more fun than last for that reason.
Driver standings
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Verstappen 194
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Leclerc 138
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Norris 131
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Sainz Jr 108
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Pérez 107
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Piastri 81
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Russell 69
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Hamilton 55
The wind is picking up, apparently. That’ll make the start even more important than usual, and if Norris can get out of the first corner in front, he’ll fancy himself to hang on.
The grid
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Lando Norris ( McLaren)
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
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Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
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Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber)
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Nico Hülkenberg (Haas)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Zhou Guanyu (Kick Sauber)
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Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
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Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
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Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
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Alex Albon (Williams)
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Logan Sargeant (Williams)
Preamble
Afternoon all and welcome to the Spanish Grand Prix – 2024!
And what a race this promises to be! Lando Norris will start in pole position for just the second time in his career, the manner of it – a near-perfect final lap he described as “beautiful” pipping Max Verstappen who will be alongside him on the front row.
Of course, there’s a big difference between besting the defending three-time over one circuit and doing likewise over 66, but it’s a start, and though the sense remains that Verstappen will again lift the title at the season’s end, this is more intrigue than we’ve had in a while and who knows, perhaps it’s the start of something.
Because Norris – who began the day evacuating McLaren’s motorhome, shoeless, following a fire – really believes he can do something, not just today but in the future. For now, though, he’ll settle for a race win – but will know the hard work is only just beginning.
Lights out: 3pm local, 2pm BST
