Montmeló (Spain) (AFP)

Lewis Hamilton carried his Formula 1 pole position record to Spain on Saturday in a symbolic total of 100, "a number so high that it (him) is hard to say how crazy and incredible it is."

"I find it hard to realize, I don't know what I'm supposed to feel," the Briton kept repeating as he got out of the car.

"It's the 100th but I feel like the firsts."

"It's something that no one, myself included, would have ever thought I could achieve," marveled the one who clinched his first top position at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, his sixth. only in F1.

Sunday at 3:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT), the Mercedes driver will share the first row on the starting grid with his main rival, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), beaten by just 36/1000.

"I'm happy it's so tight," assured the poleman. It's an incredible feeling to cross the line and wonder where we are going to be and if our effort has been enough. It is nerve-racking, for fans and for us. "

Hamilton and Verstappen, just eight points apart at the top of the drivers' standings (to the advantage of the former thanks to two wins against one), anticipate an equally close race, like the first three rounds of 2021.

"It is difficult to make predictions, develops the Dutchman. Our pace in long stints is quite decent but that of the Mercedes too. In addition, it is difficult to overtake here so we will have to see, but I hope that we will be as close as today. "

- Bicentenary very close -

His British opponent has a definite advantage: during 22 GP out of 30 on the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit, the winner started from pole!

In the remaining eight, only three winners were not in the front row.

The least well placed, the Spaniard Fernando Alonso in 2013, was 5th.

The end result "could be played at pit stops, between those who will make two and those who will only one," concludes Hamilton's Finnish team-mate Valtteri Bottas, 3rd in qualifying.

And if the seven-time world champion, in search of a record eighth world crown, were to win, he would approach a little closer to his bicentenary: the Mercedes driver indeed has 97 GP successes to his clock, the first in Canada in 2007.

Alongside Bottas, it is the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) who will start in the second row.

The third goes to the French Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and the Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari).

Next come Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 7th in qualifying, Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), 8th, Briton Lando Norris (McLaren), 9th, and Spaniard Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 10th.

The second French, Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), is only 12th, sandwiched between the Aston Martins of the Canadian Lance Stroll and the German Sebastian Vettel.

Among manufacturers, Mercedes, in the lead, scored 18 points more than runner-up Red Bull.

This is more linked to the results of their second drivers (Bottas, in place since 2017, and Pérez, arrived this winter) than to the intrinsic level of their single-seaters: they are closer than ever, as yet demonstrated these qualifications.

© 2021 AFP