Full results from third practice for the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, round five of the 2019 Formula 1 season.<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>At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, The Swiss Cyborg became the first non-Formula 1 personality to present the prestigious Pirelli Pole Position Award. Anyone who has ever watched Cesaro in the ring can easily see that he’s driven by success. This weekend, however, The Swiss Cyborg switched gears, taking in the sights of Barcelona and participating in a weekend of activities at the world-famous Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – activities that included being the first non-Formula 1 personality to present the Pirelli Pole Position award. From the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Cesaro presented the prestigious award to Valtteri Bottas, who was Saturday’s fastest-qualifying driver with a time of 1:15.406. Cesaro will remain in Barcelona to watch Sunday’s race before joining WWE’s tour through the United Kingdom and Europe. (Had the qualifying race occurred a day or two earlier, he and the Finland-born Bottas could have celebrated the victory at WWE's Live Event in Helsinki Friday night.) For more about Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix (@F1, #SpanishGP) and its rich, 106-year history, please click here.<doc-sep>A trip over the kerbs at the fast Campsa right-hander in Q2 sent debris flying from Leclerc's car, and Ferrari made multiple attempts to get it fully fixed as qualifying went on. Leclerc could only qualify fifth behind Max Verstappen's Red Bull, and admitted his Ferrari was never quite right after his incident. "I don't really understand how I could lose that much of the car on the kerb," he said. "I did not expect it. I got a little bit of understeer, but I kept it flat thinking it would be all fine. "Unfortunately we broke quite a lot. I took it a bit quicker, car was probably a bit lower, and we clicked one bargeboard and I think the second one was damaged too. "I don't think it was a big error from my side. It's just unfortunate this time, it had big consequences. "I had quite a lot of understeer, especially after we lost half of the bargeboard. "We tried to repair it, but somehow it just didn't feel the same as before. So we need to look into that." Mercedes filled the front row again at Barcelona with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, with Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari eight tenths of a second off the pace in third and Leclerc another three tenths back. Leclerc felt there was no way Ferrari would have been in pole contention regardless of his error. "We were slower than Mercedes today and that's it," he said. "Mercedes have been extremely quick all weekend, and all Friday, all through FP3 and we felt it coming a bit to be honest. "They are just extremely quick and we need to work to try and catch them."<doc-sep>
Kubica: It is a bit confusing While Robert Kubica’s heroic journey back to Formula 1 was a marvel, the reality of driving for Williams has turned a fairytale into something of a nightmare with the popular Pole stranded in confusion with regards to his car after another hugely disappointing session, this time in Barcelona. Spanish Grand Prix qualifying stats show that Kubica’s best lap of 1:20.254 in qualifying eight tenths shy of his rookie teammate Russell Williams in the sister car and nearly five seconds shy of Valtteri Bottas’ pole position winning effort of 1:15.406. After a scrappy Q1 lap, hampered by traffic, Kubica again ended slowest and said afterwards, “I started the weekend with a positive feeling in FP1, but this disappeared session by session. We kept reducing front-wing and aero balance which should have given us some understeer.” “But we were still struggling with oversteer, especially on the last run when the track was getting better. The changes that we are making are not giving us the results, so it is a bit confusing.” Williams Senior Race Engineer Dave Robson added, “Robert completed three runs, and George two. The variety of strategies adopted by the field in Q1 meant that traffic was always a risk, and both George and Robert had issues in Sector Three.” “In the end, both had clear final laps. Unfortunately, Robert had some oversteer in T4 and lost time as a result. George, in contrast, enjoyed a trouble-free lap and posted a very good time.” The “very good time” in question was nevertheless 3.6 off the pacesetters which is about where the beleaguered team have been since the first race in Melbourne. Kubica will start tomorrows race from 19th as his teammate Russell received a grid penalty for a gearbox change and will start from last.