Lewis Hamilton has expressed his relief after clinging on to pole position for Sunday’s Spanish GP.
Hamilton edged out Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by less than a tenth of a second in a breathless qualifying hour at Barcelona.
“It was very close in qualifying but very happy,” said Hamilton. “I needed this pole, I’ve not had one for a while.”
Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel, who will start the race from third place on the grid, had previously claimed three consecutive pole positions after Hamilton out-paced the field for the season opener in Australia.
“We expected Mercedes to be very strong so tomorrow should be an interesting race,” said Vettel.
The results of qualifying are particularly important at the Circuit de Catalunya as all-but-three of the last 17 races at Barcelona have been won from pole position.
Sunday’s race, exclusively live on Sky Sports F1, starts at 2.10pm, with build-up from 12.30pm.
“It took everything to get this result,” said a relieved Hamilton. “Valtteri has been driving exceptionally well. It will be a tough race.”
Vettel locked up into the first corner on his opening Q3 run, made on supersoft tyres, before switching to softs for his final run.
“I think it was the right call, I was happier with that tyre,” said the Ferrari driver. “Hats off to Mercedes but I think tomorrow will be a close race.”
Hamilton pinpointed mastering the Pirelli tyres at the start of the week as his priority and added: “These tyres seemed to have a small working window. The working range is far narrower than last year. I don’t know why they worked in Australia and they haven’t worked ever since.”
Pirelli have changed the tread of the tyres for this weekend with Hamilton dismissing a suggestion the alteration favoured Mercedes as a “stupid question”.
Provisional Spanish GP grid: Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Alonso, Sainz, Grosjean, Vandoorne, Gasly, Ocon, Leclerc, Perez, Hulkenberg, Ericsson, Stroll, Sirotkin, Hartley
Will Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes make it back-to-back victories at the Circuit de Catalunya? Watch the Spanish GP exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 from May 11-13. Get Sky Sports F1.
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