F1 LIVE | Piastri storms to pole in Barcelona, but no shortage of surprises either!

If the three pactice sessions are anything to go by, everything is wide open, and the question of who will take pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix remains unanswered.

Yes, McLaren are indeed the favourites to lock out the front row, but as we have seen in the past, moments of brilliance by Verstappen, or by George Russell, can change the expected outcome on Saturday afternoon.

Behind the usual suspects, Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, remains a question mark. Ahead of the Spanish GP weekend, they were tipped to be the ones who benefitted the most from the flexiwing clampdown.

Are they hiding pace, or has the FIA's revised technical directive had no impact whatsoever in the Scuderia's performance?

This weekend marks a fork in the road for the Italian team as it may serve as the first step taken toward the decision to halt all development in 2025 to focus on next year's car. Nevertheless it is understood that another upgrade package may be in the pipeline for Ferrari yet.

For Red Bull's and Mercedes' new drivers, they are still to close up to their teammates, with Yuki Tsunoda struggling with an alarming lack of grip, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli suffering from porpoising in the high speed corners.

Although the Italian had a much more positive FP2 placing P6, the Japanese driver regressed from a P9 in FP1 to a P13 in FP2, signalling the arduous work Red Bull have in front of them. To find out who will come out on top and start from the front of the field, all we can do is wait for the green light, with the ninth qualifying session of the season getting underway at 16:00 CEST.