Qualifying Report: Hamilton knocks Bottas to pole in swell Spanish GP qualifier as Verstappen takes P3

It was a private battle for pole position between the two Mercedes drivers in the Spanish Grand Prix qualifier, with champion leader Lewis Hamilton piping teammate Valtteri Bottas through just 0.059s in very extreme conditions at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

This was the second week in a row that the pole position margin has been 0.063 s lower, and Hamilton’s fourth pole in six races and 92nd of his career, as he also starts 150 first rows.

Mercedes have made Barcelona their own in the last decade, six in the last seven years six precedents of lock-outs, and they showed no signs of that grip loosening, as Hamilton and Bottas the one hour session seven tenths of a second faster than anyone else.

Red Vers’ Max Verstappen, winner of the last race at Silverstone, was her closest challenger in the third, the Dutchman reaching the first top-three start in Spain of his F1 career.

Returning Sergio Perez picked up where he left off before testing positive for Covid 19 with a blowing twist of pace that put him fourth on the roster, equal to his career-best start and one spot clear of Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll.

Alexander Albon’s other Red Bull finished in the top six, but he was 0.5 sec ahead of teammate Verstappen in what was the biggest gap between teammates involved in the top 10 shoot-out.

Carlos Sainz made a mistake on his first run but was recovered to run seventh in the closing seconds, using his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by a fraction for the second time this year. It was also Sainz’s best start in Spain since 2015, when he started fifth for Toro Rosso.

Charles Leclerc was the leading Ferrari in ninth, with teammate Sebastian Vettel failing to make Q3 for the second race in a row.

Pierre Gasly declared AlphaTauri team-mate Daniil Kvyat for the ninth race weekend in a row, when he completed the top 10, with Kvyat two places further back in the 12th.

Q1 – Raikkonen finally escapes from Q1 in 2020

Hamilton forgot a bit of time to pump on course in a benchmark time, but his closest rival was something of a surprise, with returning Sergio Perez just a fraction behind in the second.

The Racing Point RP20 looked in great shape around the sweeping curves of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Lance Stroll confirming its pace with the third fastest time, beating Bottas’ other Mercedes.

Elsewhere, there was finally something to smile about at Alfa Romeo, as Kimi Raikkonen finally made it out of Q1 in 2020, by scratching through in 15th. His teammate Antonio Giovinazzi was not so lucky, the Italian finished as the slowest qualifier for the first time in his career.

The Haas pace that Romain Grosjean demonstrated on Friday was nowhere to be seen on Saturday, with both Kevin Magnussen and his teammate getting the collision in 16th and 17th respectively, with George Russell complaining that he was in the traffic was sent for his last run when he suffered his first Q1 elimination since round one in Austria.

Knocked out: Magnussen, Grosjean, Russell, Latifi, Giovinazzi

Q2 – Soft ties the composite of choice because teams avoid medium gamble

Mercedes began to stretch its legs a bit in the second half of qualifying, with the soft tire the composite of choice, as teams placed a bet on the harder rubber.

Hamilton and Bottas led the way with ease, this time flanked by Verstappen who appeared a little happier with the second segment in qualifying.

There were standout performances from Gasly, the Frenchman pumping in the fifth fastest time at death, and Sainz, who has looked powerful since the team changed the engine ahead of the final practice on Saturday.

There was not so good news for Sebastian Vettel, the German missed out on the top 10 by just 0.002s behind Lando Norris (who was in Q3 every race this year) in what was his third drop in this segment in was six races. However, he will at least get free choice of tires to start Sunday’s race.

Kvyat was 12th fastest, the Russian was qualified by his teammate for the ninth consecutive race, with Renault looking cool when Daniel Ricciardo finished 13th, his worst of the season, with Esteban Ocon – crashing in FP3 – the team scored its worst qualifying match of 2020 with 15th.

Knocked out: Vettel, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Ocon

Q3 – Hamilton regains the upper hand

Hamilton put the ball up early, but a gap of just 0.059s suggested pole could still go one way or the other as champion champion and his teammate Bottas prepared them for their final run.

But the second time, with temperatures still sweltering, Bottas failed to improve, while Hamilton’s effort was more than four tenths slower than his benchmark.

Very few riders improved their second run, and although Perez succeeded, he remained fourth overall.

Sainz was one of the few to put up a quick lap that pushed him up to seventh despite suffering underdogs in the final sector that cost him time, while Albon found enough time to move up two places to sixth.

The main quote

“I couldn’t go faster on my second lap,” Grandpa-sitter Hamilton said. ‘I thought I could, but it just wasn’t a great round. But the first one was decent, I think, who did the job happily.

“But these guys do such a great job and we are constantly learning. I was here until 10am yesterday with the boys to see all the details, see how we can improve and what are the areas for the race you we could get better because these Red Bulls are super fast. “

What comes next?

The Spanish Grand Prix starts at 1510 local time, which is 1210 UTC. Mercedes has ruled out the front row for the seventh time in eight years, but will they succeed in making their tires last in the hot temperatures? Or would Verstappen try another strategy and once prove a thorn in their side?