Mercedes‘ driver Lewis Hamilton will start from the pole position at the Spanish Grand Prix, in the sixth race of this year’s Formula 1 championship.
The Brit posted his fourth pole this season and 92nd in the entire career. His time was 1:15.584, which was 0.059 faster than his teammate and the biggest rival Valtteri Bottas. It was another direct battle of two Mercedes, who is the most dominant force in F1 this year, as well as in the previous few.
Career pole No. 92 for @LewisHamilton 👏#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/kuR74vV0nD
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 15, 2020
The Fin even had a chance to jump over the six-time champ, at the very end of the qualifiers, but a mistake made in the last sector cost him the pole. That would make things much more interesting, but Bottas’s pace from today’s practice indicates that he might attack Lewis in tomorrow’s contest.
Max Verstappen ended third, and the young Dutchman pretty much established himself as the only threat to Silver Arrows in this campaign. With seven-tenths of a second behind Hamilton and two ahead of Sergio Perez, Verstappen is in some sort of a vacuum.
As for Perez, it seems that two weeks away from the track have made him hungry for some racing, as the Mexican skipped the previous two races because he tested positive for COVID-19. Racing Point’s second driver, Lance Stroll, was behind his teammate, and the British manufacturer can be very pleased with the results from today’s qualifying session.
Red Bull’s second driver, Alexander Albon, was sixth, and McLaren’s duo Carlos Sainz Jr and Lando Norris will start from places seven and eight. The top ten concludes with Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri.
In the late part of the second session, Esteban Ocon had a nasty crash that saw him hitting the wall, and ruining his vehicle. After that red flags appeared on the track, and the session stopped for the moment.
RED FLAG 🚩
The session ends under a red flag after Esteban Ocon hits the wall
He appeared to swerve to avoid going into the back of Kevin Magnussen#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Y0WyAEe7Cx
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 15, 2020
Sebastian Vettel once again couldn’t reach the third phase of the qualifiers, and the German ended 11th. The frustrations for the four-time champion are enormous, and according to many, it is just a matter of time before he leaves the Prancing Horse. All the Ferrari’s resources are focused on Leclerc, and they openly favor the younger driver.
The Spanish Grand Prix starts tomorrow at 9:10 am ET.