F1 photos GP Spain 2018 (Saturday): The pictures from qualifying

E actually the Pilots now know the circuit in Barcelona inside out. But Brendon Hartley still got astray in the third training session. In turn 9, the New Zealander let his car roll briefly across the meadow when turning. That was enough to fire the Toro Rosso backwards into the gang. 'Small mistake, big effect,' the rookie apologized.

Toro Rosso is divided into two halves

The rescue work then became a laughing stock. When the Toro Rosso was hooked onto the transporter, the car suddenly lost its entire rear section. Race director Charlie Whiting, who had rushed to the scene of the accident, personally pulled out the cell phone to take evidence of the halved racing car.

orgte for good pictures. The drivers also really let it go in the fight for the best starting positions in the qualifying that followed. But this time all slip-ups were harmless. A real record fireworks display was set off for this. In the end, Hamilton remained more than 3 seconds below the pole position mark from the previous year.

Close duels in qualifying

The World Champion decided the Silver Arrows duel with just 40 thousandths. The gap to Sebastian Vettel in 3rd place was only a meager one and a half tenths. And the duel between the two Red Bull drivers in the battle for the front starting position in the third row was decided by 2 thousandths in favor of Max Verstappen.

The good performances of the local heroes also made the stands happy. Both Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz managed to qualify for the third lap and thus start from the points. The party next to the track was almost as worth seeing as the action on the slopes. In the gallery we show you all the highlights from Saturday.