Montmeló (Spain) (AFP)
Briton Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) took pole position at the Spanish F1 Grand Prix on Saturday, his fourth in six races this season, ahead of his Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The second row goes to the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and the Mexican Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), back after two races of absence following positive tests for the new coronavirus.
The start will be given at 3.10 p.m. Sunday at the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit in Montmelo, again with temperatures of around 30 degrees in the air and 50 degrees on the track.
The Canadian Lance Stroll (Racing Point), the Thai Alexander Albon (Red Bull), the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (McLaren), his British teammate Lando Norris, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and the French Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) complete the top 10 of these qualifications.
The German Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), despite a change of chassis this weekend, the old chassis being damaged, ranks outside the Top 10 for the third time this season, the second in a row.
The two Renault cars also find themselves outside the top ten places on the grid, Australian Daniel Ricciardo 13th and French Esteban Ocon 15th. Note the performance of the mechanics of the latter, who managed to repair his car in two hours after an accident at the very end of free practice 3.
Disappointment also for the last Frenchman Romain Grosjean (Haas), yet present in the Top 10 of free practice on Friday. The 34-year-old driver suffered an engine problem that forced his mechanics to "change a lot of things on (his) car" overnight. Result, "when I went up this morning, it was not the same", he explained to the microphone of Canal +.
Finally, Finland's Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) is in the top 15 (14th) for the first time this season.
© 2020 AFP