Lewis Hamilton has conquered the pole position for the GP of Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Hamilton beat Max Verstappen who seemed to be the favorite for pole. For Hamilton it is his 100th pole position in Formula 1, a new record of course.
After the fastest time in the last practice session, Max Verstappen was the big favorite for the pole position but first we had a battle for a place in Q2 during the first qualifying part between the rearguard teams.
From the start of the session it was very busy on the track and that led to ‘traffic jams’ in the last corners of the circuit at times.
Mick Schumacher was once again in the spotlight by being half a second faster in the Haas F1 car than his teammate Nikita Mazepin and even faster than Nicholas Latifi in the Williams. A great performance by the young German, something that could not be said of Yuki Tsunoda who was killed in the AlphaTauri F1 car in Q1. After his strong first race weekend in F1, things have been going a lot less well for the Japanese for several races.
In Q2 we saw Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas as one of the first to set a fast lap time. Hamilton and Bottas seemed to be on the road very quickly, but in the end Max Verstappen dipped several tenths below the best times of the Mercedes duo. The Dutchman thus emphasized even more that he was the big favorite for the pole position.
Hamilton and Bottas made a second attempt but also had to concede more than two tenths of a second to Verstappen. Verstappen was clearly the favorite for pole position after Q2.
During the first attempt to set a fast drive, we saw Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen’s teammate, make a mistake and spin. Fortunately for Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen, the Mexican had already left so that the three other tenors of the top teams could finish their fast lap.
Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole position for the time being, Max Verstappen stranded on a handful of thousandths from the Briton during his first fast run. However, we got a second ultimate attempt that would end the battle for pole position.
Hamilton no longer managed to improve his time, something that Bottas and Verstappen also fail. The 100th pole position for Lewis Hamilton, obviously a new record for the seven-time F1 champion. Max Verstappen will start on Sunday next to Hamilton from the front row. Undoubtedly the start of another haunting battle for victory.
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