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>Renault’s nightmare start to the 2019 Formula 1 season continued in Spain during the opening qualifying session. Nico Hulkenberg came off second best heading into the fourth corner when he locked up his front right tyre and skidded across the gravel before tapping the barrier. He was able to drive out of the sand trap and make his way around to the pits, but did drag his front wing underneath his car the entire way around the track. “Not great, not the smoothest yet, we need to do better,” Hulkenberg said after qualifying. “I’m quite disappointed with myself about that. I made a mistake on the first run, touched the wall slightly and we had to change the front wing and we also suffered bargeboard damage. If you make mistakes, you pay for them. “We could have made Q2 at a minimum today. We’re lacking a bit of pace and harmony in the car at the moment. We’ll give it our best tomorrow and aim for a better result.” Later in the first session Aussie teammate Daniel Ricciardo almost suffered a similar fate when he locked up his front tyre on the exact same corner. Thankfully he kept it on the track, but only just snuck through into the second qualifying session before making his way into the third and final session. Hulkenberg has broken his front wing after going off at Turn 4 and hitting the wall. Currently caught under the Renault car as he hobbles back to the pits #F1 #SpanishGP — Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) May 11, 2019 Ricciardo couldn’t match the pace of his rivals but the Australian once again beat out his teammate and will start from 10th on the grid. “We did a pretty good job to get into Q3 today. That was the target and I certainly felt after yesterday we had the potential to achieve that,” Ricciardo said. “We probably could have been slightly higher in the order for Q3 but I lost the rear out of Turn 13 on the second run and lost some time. That stopped it from being a really good session, but, in any case, it was a strong effort today. “We have the penalty to add, but we’ll get our heads down in the race and look for points.” Mercedes duo Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton continued the 2019 trend by claiming another front row lockout. Bottas blitzed the field with a stunning qualifying lap and Hamilton gave it his all but simply couldn’t match the blistering speed of his teammate. Ferrari had mixed results in the final session of qualifying with Sebastian Vettel sitting more than half a second behind Hamilton. Charles Leclerc faced a delayed start to the session after the team worked on the damaged floor of his car. He managed to get out onto the track but couldn’t match Vettel’s speed and will start from fifth spot on the grid. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will start in fourth, ahead of teammate Pierre Gasly who will start from sixth. Verstappen unleashed during the final practice session after a close encounter during a flying lap. After being held up by Lance Stroll, Verstappen was told to be careful of him starting a new lap by his pit crew. His response was rather blunt. “I know, f*** him. He also f***ed my lap so he can wait as well. D***,” Verstappen said. WARNING: Explicit language. Gezellig even de radio luisteren bij Max nadat Stroll in de weg reed tijdens VT3. Max had weinig zin om vervolgens Stroll weer voorbij te laten. Als je van veel fuckjes en getier houdt, here you go 😜 #F1 pic.twitter.com/UvtZaP1IkL — Rob van Gameren (@VanGamerenF1) May 11, 2019 F1 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying results 1: Valterri Bottas 2: Lewis Hamilton 3: Sebastian Vettel 4: Max Verstappen 5: Chrles Leclerc 6: Pierre Gasly 7: Romain Grosjean 8: Kevin Magnussen 9: Dani Kvyat 10: Daniel Ricciardo 11: Lando Norris 12: Alex Albon 13: Carlos Sainz 14: Kimi Raikkonen 15: Sergio Perez 16: Nico Hulkenberg 17: Lance Stroll 18: Antonio Giovinazzi 19: George Russell 20: Robert Kubica<doc-sep>Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying Press Conference Full transcript from the top three press conference after qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Round 5 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Featuring pole winner Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), second placed Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and third-placed Sebastian Vettel(Ferrari) Track Interviews conducted by Jenson Button Q: Valtteri, that was a fantastic qualifying effort, outstanding. And to beat this guy around here. I know how difficult that is. The car is obviously feeling pretty awesome underneath you? Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, by the time of Quali 3 it was just really getting better and better. Really enjoyed that and enjoyed the adrenaline rush we get from those laps. I’m very pleased. Practice 3 was difficult obviously with the spin, but I just forgot that and moved on. Q: But it wasn’t just that, it was a massive margin. And now that makes it three in a row. That must give you a massive boost for the race tomorrow and for the rest of the season? VB: It does, yeah. It’s started well, the season, and the way I’d hoped for. I feel better and better in the car, so I look forward to tomorrow. Q: Lewis, watching that it looked like you really needed to get the lap in the first run in Q3. The second run, I don’t know if it was the temperature or what, but you needed to get it done then, and it seemed like the last sector was a bit loose? Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, I mean, firstly Valtteri did a fantastic job, he’s been quick all weekend. I think on my side I just didn’t put the laps together. The last couple of laps in Q3 particularly just weren’t strong. I had to go out early, because I had come in too early and I had a low battery pack and so I had to go out first, ahead of everyone and ultimately it just wasn’t a good enough job. Q: But the thing here, starting P2, you get that massive tow down the straight, so looking forward to a great race tomorrow? LH: Yeah, I’ll be giving it everything. We’ve always got great weather here. It’s great for the team to have this one-two. We’ll try to convert that into a one-two and if I can reverse it I’ll be happy. Q: Sebastian, I think that’s probably as good as you could have expected. Looking at the last sector that seems to be a massive deficit for you guys here. Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it seems to be more than an Achilles’ heel at the moment. I just spoke to Valtteri and they were both very happy with the car, especially last sector. For us it was a bit more tricky. I think we got everything out of the car in the first run. In the second run I had to try something different and it didn’t work, but yeah, happy but not happy, if you know what I mean. Q: I totally know what you mean. But it’s weird in the last sector, because it looks like the car is planted. It looks like the rear end is planted and you just have understeer. But maybe that’s an aerodynamic deficit, so you balance the car like that. Is that the case? SV: The car doesn’t feel bad, but obviously we are not quick enough. In terms of balance we got it more or less right. I had a bit more understeer; what you saw is right. Probably more than they have but I think overall in those sort of corners, you know yourself, you just need the grip and I think we might be down on that. Press Conference Q: Valtteri, congratulations, it was a stunning lap from you there in Q3. The only man to break into the 1 minute 15s all afternoon, just talk us through that final segment of qualifying in particular. VB: Yeah, thanks, it was really enjoyable and to get a nice lap like that is a nice feeling and a nice adrenaline rush. What makes it enjoyable is when the car is behaving, when the car is doing what you want it to do and what you ask it to do. I think as a team we have done an incredible job with the upgrades we brought here and with the set-up direction we’ve taken. But I was really building up to the qualifying after a difficult Practice 3 with the spin and each run I always knew ‘OK, here I can improve’ and so on and I managed to put it together for Q3. Q: How good was that lap in Q3 and are you surprised by the gap to Lewis? VB: For sure the gap is big. I never would expect that but I don’t know how Lewis’ lap was but this time I got everything pretty well right in the lap. Q: Mika Häkkinen has the Finnish record of six consecutive pole positions, just something for you to think about? VB: I’m not really a big fan of numbers. Obviously I respect Mika a lot, but at this point of the season there’s no point counting numbers, the point is focusing on the moment. Q: Congratulations. Well, Lewis, coming to you, Valtteri made the point ‘how was Lewis’ lap’, well how was Lewis’ lap? LH: It was OK; it could have been better for sure. Valtteri did a fantastic job particularly once he got to Q3. It was a bit of a tacky Q3 for me, which is kind of rare for me, but it happens. Otherwise, I’m just really happy and proud of the team for the upgrades we were able to bring this weekend to eke the gap to the Ferraris. It is an amazing track to drive, especially as we come from Barcelona testing, it’s transformed so much since then, so really proud of everyone. Q: Surprising gap between you and Valtteri. What do you put that down to? It looked like a very aggressive lap from you that first lap in Q3.<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>
Valtteri claimed his ninth Formula One pole position - his third of the 2019 season and first in Barcelona. Lewis will start tomorrow's Spanish Grand Prix from P2 on the grid. Both drivers will start the race on the Soft tyre. Valtteri Bottas: This feels really good. In every run in Qualifying I found room for improvement, little bits here and there, and I managed to get everything together in Q3 and had a very strong first lap. I think the package we have brought to Barcelona is working very well and the car was very strong, especially in Sector 3. All the credit for that goes to the team, thank you to everyone back in Brackley and Brixworth. Our long run pace looked good on Friday, but a lot can happen on a Sunday. The start and Turn 1 will be particularly important. Tomorrow, Lewis and I both want to win, so I'm looking forward to a hard and fair fight. Lewis Hamilton: I wasn't quick enough today and wasn't able to extract the full potential from the car. I have been struggling with the car all weekend, so I will have to look into the details, figure out how I can improve my pace and keep working. Valtteri had a good qualifying session and did a great job, so he deserved pole. Our long-run pace looked good, so hopefully we should be strong tomorrow as well. My starts have been decent so far this year, so hopefully that will continue on Sunday as it's not that easy to overtake on this track. Toto Wolff: We've brought a number of upgrades to the car this weekend, so it's good to see that we've made a step in the right direction. Valtteri was in good form today and put in a very strong first lap in Q3 and deserves to be on pole. It was a bit of an unfortunate qualifying for Lewis; he couldn't charge the battery properly because he pitted in Q2 and therefore his first run in Q3 was compromised. None of the drivers improved in their second run, because the track temperature had dropped and there was some dirt on the track as well. It's good to start the race from the front row as it is difficult to overtake on this track. Our drivers both want to win, so I'm sure we'll see a fight at the start, but I'm convinced it will be a fair. Andrew Shovlin: It's a great result to have taken the front row and encouraging to see such potential in the car. Everyone has been working very hard since the car first turned a wheel to solve some of the issues that we've had and it feels like we're making good progress. The car had good pace this morning but needed a bit of work to adjust to the much cooler track conditions. We were lucky to be able to get back out with Valtteri after his spin but fortunately there was no damage and he was able to complete the qualifying practice run at the end of the session. Both drivers were quite happy with the balance and we didn't need to change much going into qualifying. Qualifying wasn't quite plain sailing. Valtteri had a fairly clean session and put together a stunning lap for pole. Lewis was catching a bit more traffic which made it hard to get a proper feel for the car and to understand how to manage the out lap. He abandoned his final run in the second session due to a yellow flag at Turn 12, which meant the battery pack was not charged ready for the final session. We therefore put him out on track first so he could manage his own out lap, but it meant we caught a number of the cars who left late. By the final run, it seemed that the track had lost a bit of pace and there was some gravel down so few cars were able to improve. We expect it will be hotter tomorrow for the race so managing the tyres won't be easy but our long runs on Friday seemed strong so hopefully that will carry into the race tomorrow. Check out our Saturday gallery from Barcelona, here.