Lewis Hamilton was more relieved than elated as he climbed out of his Mercedes after claiming pole position during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix for the third year in a row.
Hamilton kept his best for his last lap in qualifying, when he put the hammer down and blitzed around the Circuit de Catalunya faster than anyone else.
Happy but subdued the reigning world champion said afterwards, "I needed this pole. I’ve not had pole for a while. It was very close but I’m very happy. I was trying to go for it in every sector. It’s important for me to get back into a good position in qualifying, it’s usually a strength of mine."
Hamilton started the Melbourne season-opener from pole, this is his second pole of the season suggesting that Mercedes have found something special since Baku or, as some believe, dialled the horsepower back on in time for the European summer campaign.
Hamilton acknowledged, "The team have been working so hard, so a huge thank you to everyone. It was a very close qualifying. Ferrari looked to be sandbagging because they could."
“It took everything to get this result. To get a one-two in qualifying is fantastic for the team. We’ve got a lot of work to do for tomorrow, it’ll be a tough race, but it’s a good way to start the weekend.”
Credit to teammate Valtteri Bottas for pushing Hamilton all the way, in the end the Finn was only 0.040 of a second shy of the top time.
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