Mercedes TENSION spills over as home hopes fall flat: 5 things you may have missed from Spanish GP qualifying

McLaren star Lando Norris produced a stunning lap to clinch his second Formula 1 pole position ahead of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen looked set to seal a spot at the top of the order before the Brit's perfect late lap dropped the Red Bull star down to P2.

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It was an encouraging day for Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finishing P3 and P4 respectively, as they look to follow up on an impressive team performance last time around in Montreal.

However, putting today's qualifying results aside for the moment, and before attention turns to tomorrow's showpiece at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, GPFans has picked out some things you might have missed during Saturday's action.

Sargeant's season goes from bad to worse

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It was another desperately disappointing qualifying session for Williams driver Logan Sargeant, who propped up the timesheets behind team-mate Alex Albon.

The American is under pressure to retain his seat ahead of next season given his woeful form throughout a campaign in which he has yet to deliver a single point.

Following another demoralising display on Saturday, the 23-year-old barely had time to collect his thoughts before being given the news that he had been summoned to the stewards after impeding Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll in Q1.

Any hope of receiving a light slap on the wrist were dashed shortly after, with the announcement that he had received a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's race. However, given that he qualified last, Sargeant will not drop any places.

X-rated blast fails to derail Mercedes

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Mercedes may have been all smiles upon the conclusion of Saturday's action, with both drivers impressing in qualifying.

However, their road to the second row wasn't without some bumps along the way, with Russell delivering an X-rated verdict on his team-mate's behaviour in Q3.

Unhappy with Hamilton taking his time on an out-lap, Russell took to the team radio, asking his team: "What the f*** was Lewis doing prepping that lap?"

His race engineer urged the 26-year-old to shake it off and get his 'head in the game'.

Luckily for the Brackley-based outfit, the in-team tension didn't derail their quest to get back towards the top of the grid.

Home heroes disappoint

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The long wait for a home winner in Barcelona looks set to continue after disappointing displays by the Spanish duo of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso.

Alonso was the last man to achieve the feat back in 2013 but failed to make it out of Q2 and make an impression on the top ten 11 years on.

Having impressed in practice, Sainz no doubt had lofty ambitions, but he too could only finish sixth fastest for Ferrari.

It is hard to make a compelling case for either driver being truly in the mix for a victory on Sunday, especially in Alonso's case.

RB take backwards step

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It's been a strange season for Visa Cash App RB. With Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo already demonstrating they are capable of producing the sublime and ridiculous in equal measure, they entered this weekend's event in high spirits despite Auto Motor und Sport reporting that there could be some DRS problems to solve.

The latter secured his first points of the season in Montreal, whilst his team-mate was eager to get back on track after a frustrating P14 finish in testing conditions in Montreal.

Yet, Saturday's efforts show there remains much work ahead, with both racers making an early exit in Q1. Tsunoda could only manage P17, just edging Ricciardo, who qualified 18th.

Alpine looking like top-five contenders

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Following the news that former Benetton and Renault boss Flavio Briatore has stepped back into the world of F1 with Alpine, the team were looking to build on the feel-good factor - a rarity for the team of late - in Barcelona.

After impressing throughout Friday's practice sessions, French driving duo Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were in fine form again today, qualifying P7 and P9 respectively.

Despite ongoing tension between their talented racers threatening to overshadow their campaign, things may finally be looking up for the Enstone-based outfit, two weeks after the squad secured their first double-points finish in Montreal.

If Gasly and Ocon can hold off the threat of their rivals in Sunday's race, the team can perhaps set their 2024 sights a little higher, with a top-five spot and Aston Martin arguably not looking quite so far out of reach.

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