How Verstappen’s lost lap would have extended his Barcelona F1 dominance

Yet his dash to pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix was made that bit easier again when the only other driver to top a qualifying shootout this term, Charles Leclerc, was knocked out in Q1. Two more big scalps were claimed in Q2 as Sergio Perez and George Russell were also eliminated.

His path looking clearer, Verstappen was left to bolt to a 1m12.727s effort with some eight minutes of Q3 remaining. Despite track evolution being exacerbated by drizzle earlier in…