Piastri earns pole position at Spanish GP ahead of McLaren teammate Norris

BARCELONA, Spain — Max Verstappen has his work cut out to keep his Spanish Grand Prix streak going after Oscar Piastri claimed pole position ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris on Saturday.

The McLaren lockout of the front row gives the papaya-colored cars a big advantage over Verstappen, whose Red Bull will start Sunday's race from third on the grid.

New rules for stiffer front wings in the race appeared to have zero impact on McLaren's speed over a single lap. Verstappen was never at the top of the time charts in the final session of qualifying, which turned into another duel between the McLarens.

Points leader Piastri was behind Norris until he peeled off a blistering final effort and grabbed the edge on the starting grid.

The race promises to be an equally scintillating fight between the teammates who have won six of the first eight races of the season and put Verstappen's grip on F1 in jeopardy. Piastri leads Norris by three points in the standings through the first third of the season.

''It is going to be tough tomorrow,'' Verstappen said. ''That doesn't mean we are not going to try.''

It was the Australian's fourth pole of the season. Piastri leads the field with four race victories, although Verstappen and Norris have topped the last two grands prix.

Piastri won from pole position in China and Bahrain, while he also pipped a pole-sitting Verstappen to win in Saudi Arabia and Miami. His only blemish was losing to Verstappen after taking pole in Imola two rounds ago.

The sensation of the F1 season blazed to a pace-setting lap in Spain that was two-tenths faster than Norris. Now he must make good on that by protecting his advantage on the long run from the starting grid to the first right-hand corner.

''It has been a good weekend so far. The car has been mega, and glad to put in some good laps as well,'' Piastri said. ''It is a long way to Turn 1 so I got to make sure I make a good start.''

Norris knows how difficult that can be. He took the pole last year, only for Verstappen to sweep past him at the start and hold on to win the race for a fourth time overall.

''It is normally interesting, and we have a lot of quick guys behind us," Norris.

Right behind Verstappen, Mercedes' George Russell and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton start from fourth and fifth.

'Squeezing everything out of the car'

Verstappen, who is 25 points off Piastri's lead, has won at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the past three years.

But when asked if he hoped to be closer to his McLaren rivals during qualifying, Verstappen responded with a terse ''No.''

''We were lacking all weekend compared to them,'' Verstappen said. ''I'm here, squeezing everything out of the car. We had a decent Friday, made some final changes to the car but it wasn't enough to challenge for the pole.''

Verstappen had pointed to Barcelona as another race in which he hoped to challenge the McLarens following his win in Italy two rounds ago, and Red Bull boss Christian Horner said his team needed to stay close to the front-runners to have a chance to make gains later in the season.

The four-time world champion now has to get by both McLarens and hold them off if he wants to cut into their leads.

Yuki Tsunoda bottomed out for Red Bull and had the slowest time in the opening segment of qualifying. The Japanese driver will start from last place in a big blow for Verstappen's new teammate.

Carlos Sainz also got culled early and will start from 18th in his Williams. That was the Spaniard's worst qualifying result of the season.

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli clocked the sixth best time, followed by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar.

Home favorite Fernando Alonso closed out the top 10 for Aston Martin.

Less flex, little impact

There was a lot of talk in the paddock this week ahead of F1 reducing the flexibility of the car's front wings, which at high speed can reduce the effect of drag on a car.

But the change didn't lead to any shakeup of the pecking order — and earned the scorn of seven-time world champion Hamilton.

''It's just wasted everyone's money,'' Hamilton said. ''It's literally changed nothing. Everyone's wings still bend."

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing