The Malta Independent on Sunday
Bottas wins pole at Spanish GP ahead of Hamilton
Motor-racing
cedes team victory on Sunday, but with him on top. "I'll be giving it everything. Great for the team to have a one-two. If I can reverse it (in the race) I'll be happy."
But Hamilton is getting far too accustomed to seeing the back of Bottas' car. Bottas won the last race in Azerbaijan from the pole. He was fastest in practice on Friday, and the Finn showed no jitters in qualifying after spinning into gravel in the final practice.
Bottas shouted an emphatic "Yes!" over the car radio when he knew the top spot was his after Hamilton came up short on his last run, with some gravel strewn on the course possible slowing him down.
Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari will start from third, just in front of Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Ferrari's other driver, Charles Leclerc, will start from fifth.
Vettel has yet to top qualifying, and it is clear Ferrari has made up no ground despite bringing a new engine to Spain. Vettel is 35 points behind Bottas in third place.
"The car doesn't feel bad, but the car is not quick enough," Vettel said. "We are struggling a little bit to bring it together."
Pierre Gasly had the sixth best time in his Red Bull, ahead of Haas pair Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.
Nico Hulkenberg was the only driver to go off the track in an otherwise clean qualifying session. The German ran into the barrier and bent one side of his front wing under his Renault. After hasty repairs, Hulkenberg could not make it out of the first qualifying section, which culls the slowest five drivers.
Williams' woes deepened after George Russell lost control during practice before qualifying. Damage from the rear-end impact into the wall required a gearbox change, which incurred him a five-place grid penalty.
Russell and teammate Robert Kubica were again at the bottom of qualifying with the slowest cars.