Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying: Hamilton Takes Pole!

A qualifying session under very high heat saw Hamilton take pole position in 1:15.584 ahead of his teammate and Verstappen. Despite his new chassis, Vettel did not make it past Q2. Räikkönen managed to reach it for the first time this season.

Q1

In this first part of the qualifications, we find the two Williams from the start with Latifi ahead of Russell in 1:19.231. They were joined by the rest of the field, starting with the Mercedes taking the lead thanks to Hamilton in 1:17.037, followed by Perez, Stroll, Bottas, Verstappen, and Sainz. The second flying lap allowed Russell to take 15th place and potentially be in Q2 before the final flying laps. All the cars returned to the track with just over 2 minutes left in Q1 except for the Racing Point. All drivers improved, but it’s Räikkönen who moves into Q2 for the first time this season ahead of his teammate, the Williams, and the Haas cars.

List of eliminated:

16th – Magnussen

17th- Grosjean

18th – Russell

19th – Latifi

20th – Giovinazzi

Q2

The Mercedes opened the Q2 session with an extremely slow setup lap before launching on red tires. Hamilton sets his lap in 1:16.013 ahead of Bottas in 1:16.152. Verstappen completes the top three ahead of Sainz, Leclerc, the two Racing Points, Norris, Albon, and Ricciardo. Vettel is the first driver to be eliminated after this initial flying lap. Everyone is trying to secure a good second lap with a lineup in the final chicane led by Leclerc. No driver opted for medium tires. Few improved their times except for the two AlphaTauri. Gasly’s 5th place time prevents Vettel from reaching Q3 by +0.002s on Norris’s time, the last qualifier! Disappointment for Renault, who also exited in Q2, placing 13th and 15th.

List of Eliminated:

11th – Vettel

12th – Kvyat

13th – Ricciardo

14th – Räikkönen

15th – Ocon

Q3

The Racing Points opened the round of fast laps with a 1:16.568 by Perez, immediately beaten by Bottas with a 1:15.643, almost 1s faster. Hamilton went even faster with a 1:15.584. Verstappen came to take 3rd place, he is the only one to (distantly) follow the pace of the Mercedes. Norris, in 6th, is +1.6s ahead of Leclerc, Albon, Sainz, and Gasly. The last qualifying lap did not allow for a change at the front of the race, none of the top three drivers improved. A great lap by Albon who moved up to 6th place behind the two Racing Points. Hamilton claims his 4th pole position of the season and the 92nd of his career.

Results of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying: