Hamilton just beats team-mate Bottas in Barcelona with Vettel third
Tuesday 11 December 2018 13:53, UK
Lewis Hamilton has expressed his relief after clinging on to pole position for Sunday's Spanish GP.
Hamilton edged out Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by less than a tenth of a second in a breathless qualifying hour at Barcelona.
"It was very close in qualifying but very happy," said Hamilton. "I needed this pole, I've not had one for a while."
Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel, who will start the race from third place on the grid, had previously claimed three consecutive pole positions after Hamilton out-paced the field for the season opener in Australia.
"We expected Mercedes to be very strong so tomorrow should be an interesting race," said Vettel.
The results of qualifying are particularly important at the Circuit de Catalunya as all-but-three of the last 17 races at Barcelona have been won from pole position.
"It took everything to get this result," said a relieved Hamilton. "Valtteri has been driving exceptionally well. It will be a tough race."
The Barcelona pole was his 74th in F1 and the Englishman added to Sky F1: "It's a very tough season. These poles are not coming easy at all which is great. I'm enjoying the battle, I'm enjoying the challenge.
"The Ferraris have been sandbagging the last two days and then all of a sudden... where did they get all that pace? I guess they just know they have it and they just turn it up when they need it."
Vettel locked up into the first corner on his opening Q3 run, made on supersoft tyres, before switching to softs for his final run.
"I think it was the right call, I was happier with that tyre," said the Ferrari driver. "Hats off to Mercedes but I think tomorrow will be a close race."
Hamilton pinpointed mastering the Pirelli tyres at the start of the week as his priority and added: "These tyres seemed to have a small working window. The working range is far narrower than last year. I don't know why they worked in Australia and they haven't worked ever since."
Pirelli have changed the tread of the tyres for this weekend with Hamilton dismissing a suggestion the alteration favoured Mercedes as a "stupid question".
