Hamilton pips Mercedes team-mate Bottas to Spanish Grand Prix pole
Hamilton pips Mercedes team-mate Bottas to Spanish Grand Prix pole
Lewis Hamilton scores his fifth Spanish Grand Prix pole as Mercedes complete yet another front row lockout.
The two Mercedes were once again the class of the field, qualifying seven tenths clear of Max Verstappen's third placed Red Bull but with only +0.059 separating the team-mates on the front row.
Hamilton set his one minute 15.584 pole time on his first run of Q3 and Valtteri Bottas also set his best time with his first effort.
Racing Point line up fourth and fifth with Sergio Perez leading Lance Stroll.
Alex Albon was seven tenths off the pace of Red Bull team-mate Verstappen but starts sixth. Having shown strong race pace on Friday, Albon will hope to stay in the podium picture heading into Sunday.
Q1 was a far closer affair than any of the free practice sessions would have led you to believe with all 15 drivers to escape the session setting times within a second of Hamilton's 1:16.872 benchmark.
Racing Point had sat towards the bottom end of the top ten across all three practice sessions, but Perez closed out Q1 second by only +0.080 seconds.
Dropping out of the session was Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, Haas struggling to deliver on strong Friday pace, the two Williams drivers and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Kimi Raikkonen escaped Q1 for the first time in 2020 but his first run in Q2 demonstrated that this was as far as he would go - his time over a second off the cut-off time for making the top ten shoot-out.
However, the Finn was able to jump Esteban Ocon for 14th, Ocon's session being compromised by an incident late in final practice.
After Daniel Ricciardo ended Friday in fourth, Renault will be scratching its head as to where the pace went after the Australian also dropped out in Q2, qualifying 13th.
Sebastian Vettel too made his exit in Q2. The third time in 2020 the four-time champion has failed to make the final stage of qualifying, Vettel will start 11th.
Ferrari had given Vettel a new chassis for the weekend after finding a small fault with his existing car, but he is still searching for pace, missing the cut-off by only +0.002 seconds.
However, Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc could only manage ninth place in Q3, so this may not be an indication so much of Vettel's form, but simply of where Ferrari sits in the pecking order at present.
Before you go...
No further action for Ocon-Magnussen incident
Hamilton tops final practice as Ocon crash ends the action early
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 paddock favourite admits immense DOUBTS over Verstappen Red Bull future
- 59 minutes ago
Hamilton F1 rival makes SURPRISE claim about Ferrari move
- 1 hour ago
Schumacher names shock F1 star to replace Hulkenberg at Haas
- 2 hours ago
Hamilton in Arsenal title wish after STUNNING revelation
- 3 hours ago
F1 boss 'in early talks' to SELL 25 percent of team
- Today 13:57
Will F1 hopeful Antonelli replace Sargeant from Imola?
- Today 12:58
Related news
Hamilton in Arsenal title wish after STUNNING revelation
Cullen relationship blossoms with new star after moving on from Hamilton
Mercedes reveal shock RED livery to celebrate historic milestone
Verstappen 'to meet Mercedes over SHOCK 2025 move as Red Bull exit clause revealed'
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860