Spain – Qualifying: Lewis Hamilton on pole, Alonso 7th

After a first day dominated by Mercedes, it was Kimi Räikkönen who took the top spot during the third practice sessions. His teammate, on the other hand, had to change his engine between the third session and qualifying due to a water leak.

**Q1**: Sebastian Vettel is among the first drivers on the track to check the proper functioning of his new engine, and goes out on soft tires for a first timed lap, but slows down after the first corner. His team asks him to stop the car: there’s a problem with the Ferrari, but the driver tries to bring his single-seater back to the pits. The German manages to restart his car before the end of the lap, thanks to a correction made on his steering wheel.

Shortly after, Romain Grosjean makes a mistake in the third sector, ruining his lap, while the first drivers set timed laps, with Sebastian Vettel leading at 1:20.939, before Lewis Hamilton improves the best time to 1:20.511, lighting up all three sectors in purple. Valtteri Bottas is in 3rd place.

At mid-session, Max Verstappen ranked 4th, two-tenths ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. Behind them, the competition is tighter, with seven different teams between the 7th and 13th places. No driver is taking the risk of switching to medium tires, as the performance difference between them and the soft tires is too significant. Kimi Räikkönen manages to get his car into 4th position, two-tenths behind his teammate, but still three-tenths ahead of the first of the two Red Bulls.

With 5 minutes remaining in the session, Grosjean, Stroll, Palmer, Magnussen, and Kvyat are in danger of being eliminated. On a second attempt with the same set of tires, Kimi Räikkönen improves to second place, aggressively tackling the curbs in the third sector.

Romain Grosjean improves with a time of 1:21.822, placing him in 7th position: the Frenchman had started well before the end of the session, which will keep him safe from a potential red flag. Kevin Magnussen also improves and is just behind his teammate following his second lap. At Williams, these significant improvements are explained by track conditions improving, which is said to account for almost six-tenths per lap.

Fernando Alonso, despite having driven very little, secures the 10th time, while Stoffel Vandoorne ends up in 19th position. Kvyat, on the other hand, will finish last, while his teammate secures the 9th fastest time… A stark contrast between the two teammates at Toro Rosso. A great performance from Pascal Wehrlein as well, who lifts his Sauber into Q2, despite a 2016 Ferrari engine.

BREAKING: ELIMINATED DRIVERS, Q1

16 ERI
17 PAL
18 STR
19 VAN
20 KVY 📸#SpanishGP #Quali 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/8DAB499XU8

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 mai 2017

Q2

Valtteri Bottas is the first driver to attempt a lap, but the Finn misses the first corner. Lewis Hamilton sets an initial lap in 1:20.210, four-tenths ahead of Kimi Räikkönen; however, his tires already seem marked following two mistakes. His teammate sets the second fastest time on his second attempt, despite a mistake while braking for the final chicane. Sebastian Vettel sets the second fastest time, less than a tenth behind Lewis Hamilton, while the battle is intense to secure a spot in the top 10 qualifying places for Q3. After the first attempts, the Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Sainz, Ocon, Magnussen, and Alonso drivers are the quickest. But between Sainz (7th) and Perez (14th), there’s only a half-second gap: with the track improving, everything is still to play for.

Nico Hülkenberg is the first driver to go out for a second attempt, quickly followed by many drivers in the last three minutes. As Nico Hülkenberg sets the eighth fastest time, Romain Grosjean makes an error in the final sector, which condemns him to elimination in Q2. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso sets the 7th fastest time, before being surpassed by Esteban Ocon, Felipe Massa, and Sergio Perez! The Spaniard is in Q3! Magnussen and Sainz, on the other hand, are eliminated.

BREAKING: ELIMINATED DRIVERS, Q2

11 MAG
12 SAI
13 HUL 📸
14 GRO
15 WEH#SpanishGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/v4fb9ClW1z

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 mai 2017

Q3

Valtteri Bottas is the first driver to take to the track, followed by Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Kimi Räikkönen. Each of these men can reach pole position; the battle will be fierce. These four drivers are within 0.04 seconds in the first sector. And at the end of the lap, it’s Lewis Hamilton who is the fastest at 1:19:149! He edges out Valtteri Bottas by two-tenths, as Bottas made a mistake in the last sector. Kimi Räikkönen is almost three-tenths behind, while Sebastian Vettel lags half a second. Behind him, Max Verstappen follows a tenth back, half a second ahead of a struggling Daniel Ricciardo. Compared to Q2, Lewis Hamilton has improved his time by more than a second.

With two minutes to go, all the drivers head out on the track for a final attempt in this qualifying session. While Lewis Hamilton will be difficult to catch, the front row is within reach for the Ferrari drivers. None of the Mercedes improve their time, but it’s Sebastian Vettel who makes significant improvements, securing the second-fastest time, just 51 thousandths of a second behind Lewis Hamilton.

In the middle of the pack, it’s Fernando Alonso who sets the 7th fastest time! Incredible performance by the Spaniard ahead of his direct competitors.

PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION: END OF QUALIFYING

64th pole for @LewisHamilton 👏

250th by a British driver 🇬🇧#SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/abXVflwS8n

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 mai 2017