The 2018 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying session has just wrapped up with both Mercedes drivers locking out the front row. Lewis Hamilton took his 74th pole position ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas. The 2 Ferraris were 3rd and 4th respectively with Sebastian Vettel ahead of Kimi Raikkonen. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the 3rd row in 5th and 6th respectively.
The first knock out session saw 19 cars take to the track as a helpless Brendon Hartley could only watch. The Kiwi had a very heavy shunt in the final practice session and the mechanics were still working on his car when qualifying began. There was a massive scalp when Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was eliminated along with the 2 struggling Williams and Marcus Ericsson. Stroll even spun off in the dying moments of the session.
via Imago
Hamilton Starts on Pole, Bottas 2nd and Vettel 3rd for the Spanish Grand Prix
In Q2, Stoffel Vandoorne was edged out and joined Pierre Gasly, the 2 Force Indias and Charles Leclerc.
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Behind the usual suspects, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was the best of the rest ahead of Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr and Romain Grosjean. There were interesting strategies being played out as McLaren opted to experiment with the medium tires in Q1 and showed some decent pace.
In Q2, the Big 3 teams all set their lap times on soft tires, thus ensuring that they were all starting on the same tires. Some of them tried pulling a fast one and went out on the supersofts, but aborted their respective laps.
The Ferrari was running its unique interpretation of the HALO-mounted mirrors and McLaren was running its B-Spec car. The latter of which had a new nosejob. The difference between the two is that McLaren’s is more permanent and Ferrari’s will last until Monaco.
Here is how social media reacted to the race.
@LewisHamilton breaks #SpanishGP track record with 2nd pole position of 2018 🔥 #SpanishGP#TeamLH@MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/VAFToPfRgW
— ℝ𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕔𝕒 𝔸𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕙𝕒𝕞𝕤 (@RishcaAbrahams) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/MrGhostO1O/status/995308003451695104
The stage is set for Verstappen to do the most tomorrow 😂😂😂 #SpanishGP
— Chris (@X_ChrisM) May 12, 2018
Second pole on special Mercedes tyres. I had no issues with @pirellisport till Thursday. Pathetic. #F1 #SpanishGP
— Martin Strümpfer (@MartinStrumpfer) May 12, 2018
Hammertimes back? @MercedesAMGF1 well done @LewisHamilton #SpanishGP
— Eric Mwanthi (@eric_mbii) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/psramprasad/status/995307890515722241
@ScuderiaFerrari Not a very good place to start tomorrow's race. Not only do #Vettel and #Raikkonen have to worry about getting past the @MercedesAMGF1 but also about @Max33Verstappen starting behind them! 😲 @redbullracing @F1 #SpanishGP
— Arnav More (@apmore21) May 12, 2018
TheChampIsBack #TeamLH #SpanishGP Well done Lewis …
— MnqobiFuze (@FuzeMnqobi) May 12, 2018
Whatever clip you take from a Williams onboard you can put the Inital D theme in the background because that car literally slides everywhere.#SpanishGP #Formula1 #F1
— Simone Caricasulo #TeamTrees 🌳 (@SimoneCarica) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/RoyMustang786/status/995309714010443776
"The more I see that Stroll accident, the more stupid it looks," says Jolyon Palmer. "It's like he just chose to drive off the track" https://t.co/lcQtEWAEJK
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) May 12, 2018
Taking the GPs in Spain, France and Britain with a pinch of salt.
Will be back to normal in Monaco and Canada I'm sure.
Cannot wait for the race tomorrow! Hopefully overtaking will be possible and strategies will spice things up… #F1 #SpanishGP
— Sinan (@SDemirbas_99) May 12, 2018
@CavalcantiLito While agreeing with you that the Willians car does not help, Stroll has already demonstrated how bad it is, money product does not make expecional pilot! The good result he had in Baku last year was pure luck! The Willians is lost!#F1 🇪🇸 #SpanishGP
— Francisco Freire // Canal Focus1 (@franciscoffc) May 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/imthebatmax/status/995310691564359680
The race is on. Will the 2 @MercedesAMGF1 drivers take each other out in the first lap. #SpanishGP #F1 .
The upgrades seem to have suited @McLarenF1 to find @alo_oficial sitting comfortably behind the top 6.
Maybe the @redbullracing take each other out like in @BakuCityCircuit https://t.co/rS6w56oowb— knayha mongha (@kmongha) May 12, 2018
Technical Delegates report, Power Unit Elements used before Qualifying. #F1 #SpanishGP #Formula1 #Spain pic.twitter.com/KNQfbgUdgU
— Kyalo (@AmJose_) May 12, 2018
Oh man… Once AGAIN @RGrosjean says he's been held up by MAG was on a slow lap…and therefore not qualified higher… Seriously #r8g : is it ever your own fault??? #SpanishGP #f1 #skyf1 @Palshoj
— itsADane (@sonnyDK) May 12, 2018
VET: "I was happy with the lap. We expected Mercedes to be strong so tomorrow should be an interesting race" #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 @F1 pic.twitter.com/E1vNKCFZhz
— Wako Joel (@WakoJoel) May 12, 2018
Well done @LewisHamilton on #SpanishGP pole! #Yay!! https://t.co/5IhBCOeE9H
— Andy (@Mr4ndyP) May 12, 2018
Last time Mercedes locked out the front row this happened.
Imagine if it happened again this weekend….🙈#F1 #SpanishGP #C4F1 #SkyF1 pic.twitter.com/YJZQ6sMqRf
— Grant Rivers (@SnowAndBeach) May 12, 2018
Will @BrendonHartley's car be ready for qualifying after this big shunt in FP3?#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZEGViMxJjS
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 12, 2018
A moving tribute to the late Michael Jackson… #SpanishGP @SChecoPerez pic.twitter.com/Tj6ByugEga
— SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) May 12, 2018
YESSSSS!!! @LewisHamilton SMASHES the circuit record to take POLE in Barcelona!!! 🔥 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/UDt4BhrEI6
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) May 12, 2018
When football meets #F1 – Hi @3gerardpique 👋#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/ZfGbZy9Ohf
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 12, 2018
Lewis: "Hello, anyone here?"
😁#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IeyukMngag— ميسون قطيفان (@MaysoonF1) May 12, 2018
Milan is ready! @F1 @MercedesAMGF1 #F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/9OPfYI57xC
— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) May 12, 2018
I hope tomorrow at least #Kimi7 would be up there on podium. Just stay outta troubles, stay outta verstappen. #ForzaFerrari #SpanishGP @ScuderiaFerrari
— BINTANG (@alejandroale_3) May 12, 2018
I see we’ve decided to abandon #SpainishGP and revert to #SpanishGP. Too bad. There was something poetic about it. @LewisHamilton thanks for taking Pole. I had to make up for my poor performance in @Fantasy_GP from last race.
— Ernie Black 🇨🇦 (@TheF1Poet) May 12, 2018
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https://twitter.com/KallMcColl/status/995314917329784832
MiniDrivers – #F1 – #SpanishGP – Qualifying #Hamilton #Bottas #Vettelhttps://t.co/qK5BiCzlGH pic.twitter.com/xvNMmR4Lrf
— MiniDrivers (@OfficialMinis) May 12, 2018
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