Max Verstappen eases to Spanish GP pole, Sergio Perez out in Q2 - ESPN

MONTMELO, Spain — Max Verstappen dominated a bizarre qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix that saw the Mercedes drivers collide, Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez fail to make Q3 and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finish up 19th.

Verstappen's fourth pole position of the season came as no surprise, but that constant underplays the drama of the session, which resulted in six different teams in the top six places for Sunday's grid.

Verstappen was 0.462s clear of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in second place, with Lando Norris taking a surprise third place for McLaren. Pierre Gasly was fourth fastest for Alpine ahead of the fastest Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton in fifth and Lance Stroll's Aston Martin in sixth, but received two three-place grid penalties for impeding rival cars and dropped to tenth on the grid.

George Russell, who qualified 12th after failing to make the cut for Q3, appeared to cut across teammate Hamilton as they both started fast laps in the final minutes of Q2 and Sainz exited the pit lane to the left of Russell.

The collision, which occurred on the run down to Turn 1 where the cars are travelling in excess of 180 mph, resulted in damage to Hamilton's front wing that caused him to back off as he was pushed onto the grass. Russell completed his lap but did not advance to the top-ten shootout.

«I had front wing and I don't know what's damaged on the floor,» Hamilton said of the damage after the incident. «Either way we couldn't have competed with the Red Bull, they're still in their own league. But we're coming.»

Esteban Ocon secured seventh for Alpine, which will become sixth, ahead of a strong performance by Haas' Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso, who was outqualified by teammate Stroll for the first time