Spanish Grand Prix qualifying: First lock-out of the season for Mercedes

Published 12/05/2018 at 20:20 GMT

Carrie Dunn reviews an action packed qualifying session at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Pole position qualifier Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP and second place qualifier and teammate Valtteri Bottas of Finland and Mercedes GP wave to the crowd during qualifying for the Spanish Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit de Catalunya

Image credit: Getty Images

Q1

It was a terrible start to the weekend for Toro Rosso as Brendon Hartley failed to get his car on track at all after a big crash in final practice.

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Mind, Williams didn't do much better, with Lance Stroll going for a spin towards the end of the session and Sergey Sirotkin failing to progress to Q2.

And it was disappointment for Renault too, as Nico Hulkenberg's epic run of progress to Q2 finally came to an end after a suspected fuel pressure problem.

OUT: Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Marcus Ericsson (Sauber), Sergey Sirotkin (Williams), Lance Stroll (Williams), Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)

Q2

Sebastian Vettel built Ferrari a comfortable lead in P1, with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen joining him in P2.

The Mercedes duo tried out softs and super-softs, and cruised through without too much effort.

Good stuff from McLaren's Fernando Alonso, through to Q3 in his home race - the first progress to the shoot-out for the team this year.

OUT: Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren), Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso), Esteban Ocon (Force India), Charles Leclerc (Sauber), Sergio Perez (Force India)

Q3

The top three ended up separated by just a tenth of a second, with Hamilton leading the way.

There was mutual respect between the two teams at the front of the grid, with Vettel the first to congratulate the Mercedes pair.

TOP 10: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Max Verstappen (Red Bull), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Carlos Sainz (Renault), Romain Grosjean (Haas)

QUALIFYING IN SUMMARY

It's the first pole position in a couple of months for Lewis Hamilton, who last started from P1 for the opening race of the season.

With Bottas joining him on the front row, that was the first lock-out of the season for Mercedes.

BIGGEST SHOCK

The Renaults have been pretty reliable so a technical issue breaking Hulkenberg's impressive streak was a surprise and a disappointment.

ONE TO WATCH

Max Verstappen is looking to regain some face after a tricky last few races, and might find tomorrow's conditions to his liking.

PREDICTED PODIUM

Hamilton - Vettel - Bottas

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