Hamilton leads Mercedes front row lockout in Spanish GP qualifying


Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas with the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen behind.

Mercedes locked out the front row ahead of their Ferrari rivals, who were unable to use their harder compound Soft tyres to take pole position.

Red Bull will line up on the third row, with Max Verstappen in fifth and Daniel Ricciardo sixth.

The final battle for pole was looking like a straight fight between Mercedes and Ferrari as Q3 began.

But it was Red Bull who surprised their rivals by both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo breaking into the 1’16s for the first time, with only Lewis Hamilton posting a quicker time after the first flying laps.

Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had disappointing first attempts, putting the pressure on Ferrari as the final minutes began.

Red Bull opted to send Ricciardo out on the Soft compound tyres, with Ferrari also choosing the harder rubber for both Vettel and Raikkonen.

Ricciardo was unable to improve on his time, while Raikkonen jumped to a provisional second place in the Ferrari.

Mercedes chose to stick with the Super Soft tyres and it proved to be the faster choice, with Hamilton setting a blistering lap of a 1’16.173 to take pole position.

Valtteri Bottas secured a Mercedes front-row lock out by posting a time only 0.040s slower than his team mate.

Sebastian Vettel took third for Ferrari, only a tenth off Mercedes’s ultimate pace on the Soft tyres.

Kimi Raikkonen will line up ahead of the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. Kevin Magnussen will start seventh, ahead of the two Spaniards of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr with Romain Grosjean rounding out the top ten for Haas.

Qualifying results

Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas with the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen behind.

Mercedes locked out the front row ahead of their Ferrari rivals, who were unable to use their harder compound Soft tyres to take pole position.

Red Bull will line up on the third row, with Max Verstappen in fifth and Daniel Ricciardo sixth.

The final battle for pole was looking like a straight fight between Mercedes and Ferrari as Q3 began.

But it was Red Bull who surprised their rivals by both Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo breaking into the 1’16s for the first time, with only Lewis Hamilton posting a quicker time after the first flying laps.

Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had disappointing first attempts, putting the pressure on Ferrari as the final minutes began.

Red Bull opted to send Ricciardo out on the Soft compound tyres, with Ferrari also choosing the harder rubber for both Vettel and Raikkonen.

Ricciardo was unable to improve on his time, while Raikkonen jumped to a provisional second place in the Ferrari.

Mercedes chose to stick with the Super Soft tyres and it proved to be the faster choice, with Hamilton setting a blistering lap of a 1’16.173 to take pole position.

Valtteri Bottas secured a Mercedes front-row lock out by posting a time only 0.040s slower than his team mate.

Sebastian Vettel took third for Ferrari, only a tenth off Mercedes’s ultimate pace on the Soft tyres.

Kimi Raikkonen will line up ahead of the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. Kevin Magnussen will start seventh, ahead of the two Spaniards of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Jnr with Romain Grosjean rounding out the top ten for Haas.

Qualifying results

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