Every millisecond counted for Hamilton

Dominant Friday in free practice, Lewis Hamilton regained first place this Saturday in Catalonia at the end of the qualifying session for the Spanish Grand Prix, after seeing Kimi Räikkönen and Ferrari to be at the forefront in EL3 this morning.

Best time for only 51 thousandths ahead Sebastian Vettel, the Briton specifies that Mercedes made the most of the potential of the W08, which appeared in a largely evolved version since Friday, to achieve this pole position.

“It was a really intense qualification, underlines the former pilot McLaren. We extracted every possible millisecond to take pole. We made some changes before qualifying and the car performed well, so I'm very happy. »

Renewed duel against Ferrari in the race

Dominant this Saturday, Lewis Hamilton knows that the Ferrari threat will indeed be present tomorrow in the race, and in particular at the start, with a long straight before the first braking.

“I think it's the third longest distance before the first turn, Hamilton comments. Of course it will be important to get a good start, but we have worked a lot on the procedure, so I will try to do the best job possible.

Valtteri had some good action, so I'll try to follow his example. Positioning can help a lot here and being on the clean side of the grid is an advantage in general. I hope I can use it, especially against Sebastian, and then in the race you will have to manage your tires. »

The Briton is obviously wary of Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel, despite the convincing developments made by Mercedes in Spain. Ferrari has also shown with Vettel's performance in qualifying that it will have to be reckoned with tomorrow in the race.

“Obviously Ferrari is attacking very hard, just like we did. I think for us it's more about the quality rather than the quantity of the upgrades, so we just work to make sure the ones made fit the car...but it's strange when you mix it all together and you still manage to be in the same tenth. I think it's great for racing. »

Pierre Tassel