Lewis Hamilton Takes Pole in Spain GP

The European section of the F1 season is about to get under way and after testing in Mugello we have some questions to answer. Can Ferrari end their woes? Have Red Bull, Lotus and Mercedes improved their already strong cars? Will Button and Hamilton live to regret letting the test drivers run the cars? Well we're about to find out! A relatively quiet start to Q1 with most teams waiting before heading out, mostly due to teams wanting to keep their tyres for the race. Di Resta first to set a lap and it's not a quick one after going wide onto the rumble strips. Alonso first into the 1 min 24's, but as seen in practice, a 1:23 is possible on the Hard tyre. It looks like a lot of teams will stay out and hope these tyres come to them. Hamilton is fastest after 10 mins with a 1:24.1, which is beatable. Both Red Bulls still in the garage as Mercedes set laps. And Hamilton is the first into the 1:23's to sit top, 3 tenths quicker than Perez of Sauber. Oooh, Maldonado sticks on the soft tyres and goes 6 tenths quicker than Hamilton on a 1:23.38. Button still complaining about understeer which could have been a repeat of every practice session as he's complained non-stop about it this weekend. So, into the last 5 mins of Q1 and most teams send their cars out on the soft tyres, including Red Bull. Vettel puts in a 1:23.9 to match Hamilton but is beaten by Raikkonen, Webber and Di Resta. Grosjean goes 1st on a 1:23.2 swiftly followed by Alonso who is only slightly slower. Hamilton goes faster on a new set of softs, first into the 1:22's and looking very quick. Senna was under pressure sitting in 18th and had a chance to get out of it on his final lap but spun into the gravel and finds himself missing out on Q2. Drivers out are 24th Karthikeyan 23rd De La Rosa (both HRT) 22nd Glock 21st Pic 20th Kovalainen 19th Petrov 18th Senna (Karthikeyan out of the 107% rule so will need clarification from the stewards as to whether he can take part in the race) Into Q2 and once again, no cars heading out straight away. Just a recap on Karthikeyan, he has been within 107% this weekend so should be in the race. Sauber out followed by Force India all on soft tyres. Hamilton casually throws in a 1:22.4 to lead the way, he seems to be a little quick this weekend and might get his first race win this season. Lotus head out as everyone else drops into the pits looking to do a one lap run. Hamilton knows his lap is so quick he jumps out of the car and into the back of his garage. Grosjean, Raikkonen and Webber follow him into the 1:22's. Button, not feeling as secure as his teammate heads back out for another lap. Massa puts his car into 10th but Alonso puts him back out again by going 4th from 11th. Vettel is out so far but on a lap and looking quick enough. Vettel and Button put in high 1:22's and are into the top ten. Perez goes 3rd! Maldonado goes 1st! Button is out, displaced by Perez and Maldonado's late surges he finishes 11th. Webber also out, curiously quiet in that session he also gets swallowed up by the late runners. Drivers out are 17th Massa 16th Ricciardo 15th Vergne 14th Hulkenberg 13th Di Resta 12th Webber 11th Button. Kobayashi looks like he will miss Q3 due to a Hydraulic failure in his car, which he parked on on the circuit during his cool down lap. Williams, Lotus and Sauber looking extremely quick today. Lotus was expected, but the other two are great suprises. Webber was told it was a good lap and he wouldn't run again, he looked confused at that and I don't think his mechanic expected to not be running again at all. Vettel is waiting at the light for Q3, obviously desperate to drive this car as he sat there for over a minute. But he's coasting once he gets on the track, just setting sectors which means he will start at least 9th if he wants to save tyres. Hamilton is out there and sets a 1:22.5, but will he now just come in and save tyres as with 5 mins remaining everyone else is still in the garage. Schumacher sets his sector times on the hard tyre following Vettel setting times. Ahh, thankyou Nico, he's out there and setting a lap. He's keeping up with Hamilton's times so is giving it a go. Alonso, Grosjean and Raikkonen head out on new softs. Rosberg goes 2nd, not hard though, he's only the second person to set a lap time! Maldonado, Hamilton and Vettel also head out on new softs. All of them will get one lap and one lap only. Schumacher has stayed in the pits so won't set a lap. Alonso is up on the first sector time but not as quick as Raikkonen who is 3 tenths up on the first sector time set by Hamilton. Alonso hits provisional pole, and keeps it, Raikkonen lost it late in the lap and goes 2nd. Perez fires himself into 3rd. Grosjean goes 2nd now and Maldonado takes Pole! That is, until Hamilton blows it away by half a second!! Oh my, Oh my! Vettel isn't quick enough and bails out of his lap. Well done Lewis, what a lap, simple perfection. He has parked his car on the track, the Spanish fans screaming at him (he doesn't have a good rapport with them remember). Maldonado can be rightly proud of himself, what a great day for him. Top Ten results 1st Hamilton 2nd Maldonado 3rd Alonso 4th Grosjean 5th Raikkonen 6th Perez 7th Rosberg 8th Vettel 9th Schumacher 10th Kobayashi