Charles Coates/Getty Images Valtteri Bottas continued his excellent 2019 season on Saturday, as he led a Mercedes front-row lockout in qualifying at the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix. Mercedes were dominant throughout the day, and Bottas secured pole with a stunning time of one minute, 15.406 seconds. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton will join him at the front of the grid, while Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel will begin in third. Earlier in the day, Hamilton topped final practice, with Bottas leading the way in both sessions on Friday. Here is a recap of Saturday's action, including the key details from qualifying ahead of Sunday's race in Barcelona. Qualifying Recap Video Play Button Videos you might like With all the main names negotiating their way through Q1, the big story early on was the continued struggles of Renault. While Daniel Ricciardo was able to squeeze through into the next phase, Nico Hulkenberg had a session to forget. His front wing got stuck under his car after a collision with the barriers, prompting mid-session repairs and then an eventual elimination. F1 journalist Philip Duncan commented on what has been a challenging 2019 for the team so far: One of the biggest surprises in Q1 was the performance of McLaren's Lando Norris. He produced a fine lap to stay well clear of any cutoff and finished the session in a lofty sixth position. In the second stanza, the power of the Mercedes was again there for all to see, as Hamilton posted a time of 1:16.038 to break the circuit record; it felt inevitable he would go quicker again in the final session, too: Elsewhere, the scrap to get into the top-10 shootout was intriguing, as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc found himself in the red zone as the clock ticked down to zero. He eventually did enough to get through on his final lap, while Bottas pipped Hamilton to top spot at the end of the session. The Ferrari mechanics had some work to do before Q3: In the race for pole, Mercedes were always going to be tough to beat, and the two Silver Arrows were first to set a time. Once again, Bottas had the edge, posting a blistering marker of 1:15.406, more than sixth-tenths of a second quicker than Hamilton in second. In the second runs, neither of the front two were able to improve their times, while Vettel did enough to finish as the best of the rest. FP3 Recap At a track the drivers are so familiar with, it was strange to see a number of big names making errors in the early stages on Saturday. First it was Vettel, who spun at the chicane. A day earlier, the German had been unhappy with the lack of grip in his rear tyres and didn't appear totally at ease in Barcelona, limping to the fourth-fastest time. The same could be said for Bottas to begin with. Having looked flawless on Friday, the Finn's mistake left his Mercedes in the gravel and temporarily brought the session to a standstill: His team's Twitter account were quick to note this was out of character for a driver who is usually so dependable: Meanwhile, the battle for top spot in the standings didn't ignite until late on, when the leaders decided to give the soft tyres a go. Leclerc initially went quickest, although he was blown away by Hamilton, who reinforced just how difficult the Mercedes is going to be to beat in qualifying and on Sunday. The Briton was a massive 0.531 seconds ahead of the Ferrari, with Bottas eventually recovering to take third spot. The session was brought to a premature end when George Russell lost control of his Williams and spun into a wall with five minutes remaining.<doc-sep>Bottas had the edge on Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton throughout qualifying, ending up a massive 0.634s quicker. None of the top four were able to improve their times on their second runs on soft Pirellis in Q3, ensuring Mercedes kept hold of the front-row lockout it had taken earlier in the final segment of qualifying. Sebastian Vettel was third and 0.866s off the pace, less than a tenth quicker than fourth-best Max Verstappen's Red Bull. Charles Leclerc only had one run in Q3 thanks to having to use two sets of soft Pirellis in Q2 after compromising his first run by running wide at Campsa – also picking up some minor floor damage. He put in two attempts on his one set of tyres, but ended up third and over two tenths slower than Verstappen – but ahead of the second Red Bull of Pierre Gasly. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen made good on the promise the upgraded Haas showed in practice by taking seventh and eighth place, with Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat ninth. Daniel Ricciardo was slowest of those in Q3 in 10th, although he must serve a three-place grid penalty for reversing into Kvyat in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix two weeks ago. Lando Norris was the best of those who didn't reach Q3 in 11th place after being bumped down a position by Leclerc's late improvement in Q2. Toro Rosso driver Alex Albon, like his teammate, only had one run on fresh softs in Q2 and ended up 12th after running wide at Turn 5. Carlos Sainz made an error on what should have been his quickest lap and ended up 13th ahead of the lead Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point's Sergio Perez. Nico Hulkenberg was the fastest of those eliminated in Q1 in 16th place, 19 thousandths slower than teammate Ricciardo. Hulkenberg crashed at the Turn 4 right hander on his first run before he set a time, but was able to recover to the pits despite crunching his front wing. He returned to the track in the closing stages and briefly lifted himself out of the drop zone with his first flying lap on the second set of options – although his pace was hindered by having switched to an older-spec front wing. But Raikkonen then improved to push him down to 16th, with Hulkenberg finding two-tenths on his second flier but not quite enough to escape. Racing Point's Lance Stroll was eliminated for the fifth time in five 2019 races in 17th place, two tenths faster than 18th quickest Antonio Giovinazzi's Alfa Romeo. George Russell won the intra-Williams battle for 19th place despite a spin at the chicane on his first run, outpacing Robert Kubica by 1.2s after the Pole failed to improve on his second run.<doc-sep>Indeed, the times in all three practice sessions indicate that they are behind Mercedes. And perhaps even further behind them than ever. Valtteri Bottas was quickest on Friday whilst Lewis Hamilton showed Mercedes prowess in final practice this morning by setting a time five-tenths of a second quicker than anyone else. It is a track where he has started on pole for the last three seasons, winning the last two. Still, Bottas left a bit of time out there but Hamilton looks like the man to beat. Ferrari - with Sebastian Vettel in fourth and Charles Leclerc in second - will be worried. Elsewhere, Haas look to be the best-of-the-rest and may even perhaps be able to challenge the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly. In fact, I am going to say now that one Haas will finish ahead of Gasly. It was a session that was red flagged twice, with Valtteri Bottas spinning his Mercedes at turn five on his out lap, beaching it in the gravel. Then George Russell's Williams went backwards through turn four and into the barriers, ending the session. With track conditions cooler today than yesterday - and a 50 per cent chance of rain during the session - there are still a lot of questions to be answered. Can Bottas keep the screw turned on Hamilton? Can Ferrari edge their way closer to Mercedes? Will home favourite Carlos Sainz be able to take decent points for McLaren? I'll be here for the next few couple of hours to find out...<doc-sep>Although the top three outfits appear to be well clear of the midfield battle, the closeness of the fight to be 'best of the rest' has left de Ferran convinced that small updates could be enough to transform the competitive order. Read Also: The F1 teams under most pressure to deliver upgrades in Spain "In Barcelona there's potential for a big reshuffle, because a lot of people bring different things, and we don't control that," said the Brazilian, who will continue working alongside McLaren's new team principal Andreas Seidl from this weekend's event in Barcelona. "We only control what we can do. I think on the positive side I think we understand the strengths and weaknesses of our current car, and we're very focussed on saying we need to improve the weaknesses that we've identified. "Where we're going to be in Barcelona and from then on, I've no idea. It's just heads down, and step-by-step." De Ferran is clear that although McLaren has made good progress this year, and moved up to fourth place in the constructors' championship after Baku, it is not sitting back and thinking it is job done. The seventh and eighth places that Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris took in Azerbaijan continued a good run of form for the team, whose only real setback so far this year came in China when both its drivers tangled with Daniil Kvyat on the first lap. The Baku points haul was the first time since the same race last year that the team has scored with both cars. However, De Ferran cautioned that there is still a lot of work to be done as the team tries to move up the field. "It's a good taste in the mouth," said the Brazilian. "Obviously it was an unfortunate race in China, so to bounce back with double points is good. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's still a lot of work ahead, so let's keep walking. The team is doing a great job both trackside and back at the factory. "I think a good indication of that is the pit stops. They keep improving throughout the year, and Baku again we did really well in the stops. "Ever since last year we're trying to identify every opportunity and every weakness that we have, and slowly and in a calm manner try to improve every aspect of everything that we do. We're trying not to get ahead of ourselves." De Ferran has been encouraged by the progress of the two drivers: "On the driver front Lando is doing an outstanding job, and so is Carlos. "He's been unfortunate in the first three races of the year, but both guys have been on the pace, both guys are working very well with the team and with each other. The relationship is good, and we've just got keep building on that."<doc-sep>
Dan Istitene/Getty Images Mercedes continued their strong start to the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in second practice on Friday, as Valtteri Bottas was again on top of the standings. The Finn was lighting quick around the Circuit de Catalunya, posting a time of one minute, 17.284 seconds in the day's second session. That was enough to put him ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who was 0.049 seconds behind. Earlier in the day, Bottas was fastest for Mercedes in FP1, with the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc in second and third respectively. Here is a recap of Friday's action from Barcelona, including the full standings from both practice sessions. FP2 Recap Video Play Button Videos you might like With Bottas and Hamilton split by the two Ferrari drivers in the early runs, it wasn't completely clear which team would have the edge going into final practice and qualifying on Saturday. However, it would appear Mercedes are again the team to beat. Hamilton was first to go the top of the standings, although he wasn't there for long, as his team-mate produced a better final sector on the soft tyre to move in front again. As the Autosport Live Twitter account relayed, the Mercedes has a big advantage over Ferrari in the final two sectors of the track: The Pirelli Motorsport Twitter account noted that the drivers are already much improved on their times from 2018: There was a small worry for Mercedes at the end of the session when Hamilton complained about a loss of power, although he was able to get his car back to the garage. Ferrari appear to be the best of the rest in Barcelona, as they were a significant way behind the Silver Arrows but comfortably ahead of the other cars in the field. Those seeking some drama in FP3 and qualifying may look to the battle to be on the third row of the grid. Based on Friday's data, there's little separating the Red Bull and Haas teams, with the four drivers from those teams tightly bunched on the standings. FP1 Recap Both Ferrari drivers were fast out of the blocks, and they set the early pace on a crucial weekend for the Italian outfit. However, they were both eclipsed by Bottas once the Finn strapped on the soft tyres. He also had a close call with Max Verstappen early in the session as the Dutchman just avoided him while on a fast lap: The pair both ended the session in the pits as their cars were investigated for apparent oil leaks. That was small fry compared with Lance Stroll's late issues, though. The Racing Point driver crunched nose first into the barriers at Turn 9, drawing a red flag moments before the end of the session while causing major damage to his car. The 20-year-old was able to walk away from the crash and appeared unhurt. But Racing Point will have a job on their hands to repair the damage.