MERCEDES AMG SECURED 100TH POLE FOR LEWIS HAMILTON

Lewis Hamilton beat Max Verstappen by just 0.036 seconds to make history as the first driver to reach 100 pole positions in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Verstappen finished ahead of Valtteri Bottas at the end of a tight session in which the top three drivers were covered by just 0.130 of a second.

At the start of Q1, Mercedes AMG opted to send its drivers out on medium tyres and Bottas took top spot in the session. Verstappen slotted into P2 on soft tyres, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took third place in the early part of the session.

Hamilton’s opening time was not solid though and as the segment neared its final stages he began to slip down the order. The champion went out on a set of softs for a precautionary final run that he abandoned after his out lap when it became clear that his progress to Q2 would not be threatened.

It was Lando Norris who put in the segment’s fastest lap, however. The McLaren driver had been disadvantaged by traffic early in the session and required another attempt on a new set of soft tyres. He rose from the drop zone to P1.

Norris’ jump to the top of the timesheet meant that AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda slid into the drop zone. The Japanese driver then went wide in Turn 9 on his final run and he was thus eliminated in P16 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin.

Verstappen set the pace in the opening runs of Q2. Mercedes AMG were first across the line with Bottas to edge Hamilton by two tenths but Verstappen set blistering pace to cross the line almost half a second clear of Bottas.

It was a different story for the Dutch driver’s team-mate Sergio Pérez however. The Mexican driver was struggling to find a comfort zone with his car and his first lap left him in P12 and in the drop zone ahead of the final runs. He improved on his final run, however, and jumped to P5.

While Verstappen stayed in the Red Bull garage for the final runs, Mercedes AMG sent it’s drivers out again and Hamilton improved on the set of softs he had used for his precautionary lap in Q1. He finished in P3 behind Bottas.

Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P11 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Aston’s Sebastian Vettel, Alfa’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams’ George Russell.

Verstappen’s Q2 pace seemed to indicate that the Dutch driver would deny Hamilton a historic 100th pole but in the opening runs of Q3 the seven-time champion responded to take provisional pole. Verstappen got closest to that benchmark, finishing his opening flying lap just 0.038s behind the Mercedes AMG driver and a tenth clear of Bottas.

It set up a knife-edge finale but soon after the start of the final flying laps it became apparent that none of the top three drivers was improving and Hamilton took his 100th pole, while Max had to settle for a 17th career front-row start ahead of Bottas.

Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP
1.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1:16.741
2.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:16.777	+ 0.036
3.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	1:16.873	+ 0.132
4.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:17.510	+ 0.769
5.	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:17.580	+ 0.839
6.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:17.620	+ 0.879
7.	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:17.622	+ 0.881
8.	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:17.701	+ 0.960
9.	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:18.010	+ 1.269
10.	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:18.147	+ 1.406
Q2 Fastest Time: Макс Ферстапен - 1:16.922
11.	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:17.974	+ 1.052
12.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:17.982	+ 1.060
13.	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:18.079	+ 1.157
14.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:18.356	+ 1.434
15.	George Russell	Williams	1:19.154	+ 2.232
Q1 Fastest Time: Ландо Норис - 1:17.821
16.	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:18.556	+ 0.735
17.	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo	1:18.917	+ 1.096
18.	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1:19.117	+ 1.296
19.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:19.219	+ 1.398
20.	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1:19.807	+ 1.986
107% time: 1:23.268
HYBRID HISTORY - CATALUNYA 2014 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:25.232 2015 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes AMG - 1:24.681 2016 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:22.000 2017 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:19.149 2018 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:16.173 2019 Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes AMG - 1:15.406 2020 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:15.643 2021 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1:16.741
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