Bottas, imperial poleman in Barcelona!

Definitely the Bottas new has body! The world championship leader puts out a huge lap during his first attempt in Q3 and stops the clock with a time of 1'15''406, a new benchmark around the 4,655 km of the Catalan route. A superb performance, synonymous with 9th career pole Bottas, who relegates his teammate Lewis Hamilton more than six tenths, Mercedes still reaching the first line of the grid again. 

END OF QUALIFYING

TOP 10
BOT
HAM
VET
MORE
LEC
GAS
GRO
MAG
KVY
RIC#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ijCG079o8r

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 11, 2019

Sebastian Vettel barely saves the furniture for a disappointing Ferrari by lifting the best classified SF90 into 3rd position. His teammate Charles Leclerc must be satisfied with 5th time. Between the racing cars of Maranello sneak in Max Verstappen, always so constant and impeccable on board his Red Bull-Honda. His garage neighbor Pierre Gasly will start from 6th place in the race on Sunday.

Haas confirms the good arrangements displayed since the start of the Spanish weekend. Romain Grosjean et Kevin Magnussen will occupy the 4th row of the grid, while Daniil Kvyat invites himself again in Q3 to Toro Rosso. 

In a weekend that has so far gone poorly for Renault, Daniel Ricciardo brings a little balm to the heart by hoisting his RS19 to 10th place on the grid while the Australian had come close to being punished in Q1. 

Small disappointment for the McLaren who seemed to have the potential to enter Q3 again but stumbled on the threshold of the last phase of qualifying. Lando Norris ranks 11th and is 39 thousandths away from a new appearance in the Top 10, while his teammate Carlos Sainz makes a mistake in his last flying lap and can only finish 13th. Between them slips the Toro Rosso ofAlexander albon. Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) and Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) are the other two drivers eliminated in Q2.

Q2 CLASSIFICATION: Danny Ric squeezes into the top 10 shootout #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ivEj09UNHq

- Formula 1 (@ F1) May 11, 2019

Nico Hulkenberg had left the stage a little earlier, at the end of Q1. The German made his task more complicated by making a mistake in his first timed attempt. The former winner of 24 Hours of Le Mans wiped his front nose in the barriers of turn 4 after an untimely wheel lock. 

Another shot of Hulk's trapped front wing#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/tBxmkOEowB

- Formula 1 (@ F1) May 11, 2019

Hülkenberg is accompanied in the first cart by Lance stroll. The Racing Point driver does not make it past the initial stage of qualifying for the 5th time in as many races this season. Disappointment also for Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa Romeo, while the beginner George Russell raises his rebellious FW42 into spheres which would almost make it respectable. 

The champion of Formula 2 is in fact only 4 tenths behind Giovinazzi, and above all sticks 1'2 to his teammate Robert Kubica, who is using his chassis this weekend in Spain after having complained about strange behavior of his during the first races of the season. 

Q1 CLASSIFICATION: Nice work, Lando #SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/xrmjrjNlfd

- Formula 1 (@ F1) May 11, 2019

While we expected a jump from the Scuderia, Mercedes seems to have widened the gap at the start of the European season. Will Hamilton be more enterprising than in Baku against his teammate Bottas, who continues to assert himself throughout the races? See you on Sunday at 15:10 p.m. for the start of the Spanish Grand Prix, to follow live with commentary on our live-text CARhebdo.fr.