Hamilton has won the Spanish Grand Prix 2017 pole and will share the front row with Ferrari man Sebastian Vettel. Bottas will start from third alongside Raikkonen on the second row. This is Hamilton’s 64th pole in F1, just one pole behind Senna’s 65 poles and 4 behind record holder, Michael Schumacher with 68 poles.
Spanish GP 2017 Qualifying Results
1. Hamilton – Mercedes
2. Vettel – Ferrari
3. Bottas – Mercedes
4. Raikkonen – Ferrari
5. Verstappen – Red Bull
6. Ricciardo – Red Bull
7. Alonso – McLaren
8. Perez – Force India
9. Massa – Williams
10. Ocon – Force India
Mercedes managed to top both practice sessions yesterday but Ferrari was fastest on the final session today with Kimi leading Vettel on the timesheet. Bottas’ car suffered a water leak this morning after only getting fixed for an electrical failure, he missed nearly the whole session and will be running an older spec engine. Vettel’s Ferrari has also received a new power unit.
Vettel led the field into action in Q1 wearing a set of softs, Ocon and Vandoorne followed the Ferrari. Moments later, on his second lap, Vettel began slowing down on the track. “Try to reach the box, Sebastian,” he was told. It appears as if the new power unit had its own issues too. But the Ferrari driver kept pushing until he set the fastest time on 1m20.939s.
📻FERRARI: "Stop the car…"
Heart-stopping moment for VET as his #Quali looks over – before he regains power seconds later#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/iLoLTzMj8o
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 13, 2017
Hamilton bettered Vettel’s time with a much quicker 1m20.511s, Grosjean met trouble on turn 13 where he spun his Haas. Meanwhile, Raikkonen took his time to set a proper time but the Finn managed to slot in second pushing teammate Vettel in third. The Haas drivers went out for a final stint on new soft tires as they tried to evade the drop zone.
Eliminated in Q1 were Ericsson, Palmer, Stroll, Vandoorne and Kvyat. The top ten comprised of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Vettel, Bottas, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Grosjean, Ocon, Sainz and Magnussen.
Everyone will end the session on the soft tyres – which we should see until the end of qualifying #SpanishGP
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) May 13, 2017
Q2 started with Bottas locking up at turn 1 but the Mercedes driver managed to get back in line, teammate Hamilton set the clock going with a 1m20.210s. Vettel came in second after his first attempt leading Bottas and Raikkonen. As predicted, softs were the tires of choice throughout qualifying.
Fernando's out on track for his first Q2 run. He goes P9. #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/56nAEMm0RQ
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 13, 2017
Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull were satisfied with their first laps, and with four minutes remaining, nine cars headed out for the second attempt to escape the drop zone. In the end, Magnussen, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Wehrlein were all eliminated. Top ten in this session comprised of Hamilton, Vettel, Bottas, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Ocon, Massa, Perez and Alonso.
Bottas kicked off Q3 with a 1m19.390s on the clock, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull were all out on new soft tires. A 1m19.149s from Hamilton placed the Brit in first place, Vettel claimed third before Raikkonen stole that place with a much faster lap. Five minutes left in the session and all cars were in the pits.
#LH44 ventures out… he's on provisional pole. This is it!! #SpanishGP #F1 #Quali pic.twitter.com/RwHK9LVOUo
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) May 13, 2017
Hamilton improved with a 1m19.149s while Vettel’s middle sector pace was slower, placing him in second with a 1m19.200s.
