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May 8, 2021 Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes will start from pole in the Spanish GP at the Montmelo circuit in Barcelona. At his side in the front row the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Third Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas (+0 "132), who will be joined in the second row by the Ferrari of an excellent Charles Leclerc. Following Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and the other Red of Carlos Sainz, seventh Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren ), Sergio Perez (Red Bull) eighth, Lando Norris (McLaren) ninth and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) tenth.
Qualifying starts ten minutes late due to the need to fix a protective barrier. In free practice 3 Verstappen (Red Bull ) was the fastest, the Ferraris did well: 3rd Leclerc, 4th Sainz.
Balanced first elimination phase. At first the two Mercedes take the lead, but with a super lap Lando Norris takes the lead with 1'17 "821 and finishes ahead of Bottas, Leclerc, Verstappen and Gasly. Seventh Sainz, Hamilton is limited to the ninth time.
Eliminated:
16 . Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) 1'18 "55617.
17 Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1'18" 917
18. Schumacher (Haas) 1'19 "117
19. Latifi (Williams) 1'19" 219
20. Mazepin (Haas) 1'19 "807
Verstappen is unleashed in Q2 with Red Bull obtaining the best time in 1'16 "922 with 220 thousandths of an advantage over Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes while Lewis Hamilton is third (+0" 244). Fourth time for Carlos Sainz's Ferrari while Charles Leclerc snatches qualification for Q3 with the seventh time.
Eliminated:
11. Stroll (Aston Martin)
12. Gasly (AlphaTauri)
13. Vettel (Aston Martin)
14. Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
15. Russell (Williams)
Even the Q3 is exciting for the balance of the cars on the track, at least in the first phase. After a sharp from Ocon there is Hamilton's paw chased by Verstappen. The Briton gets a little weak in the final but keeps the record. For him pole number 100.