Why Barcelona's Sector 2 could play a critical role in qualifying and the race for different reasons
George Russell's back on pole but it's what put Lewis Hamilton on the front row that's worth watching, because it could be a critical factor tomorrow for a very different reason.
George Russell has finally rediscovered his “groove” to achieve his third pole of the year, but it’s the driver who ended P2, only 0.064s back, whose performance pattern was most interesting because it points to what was key to unlocking the lap in Barcelona today.
Lewis Hamilton will start tomorrow’s race from the front row, and it will be the first time he does so since Silverstone 2024, and we all know how that ended! But it was the lap he put in right at the very end of Q3 to take the P2 place, and a specific part of it, that caught my interest because it furthered a pattern that had been developing, but mainly for the pole-man.
