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>This weekend marks round five of the 2019 Formula One season, with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Mercedes have dominated the first four races and look set to do so again in Spain, while Ferrari's hopes a new engine could help them close the gap at the top failed to materialise. Sportsmail brought you all the news and updates as the grid unfolded on Saturday afternoon.<doc-sep>
- Valtteri Bottas took the ninth pole position of his Formula 1 career on Saturday in Spain after topping qualifying for Mercedes, setting three laps good enough for P1. - His best effort of 1m15.406s comfortably marks a new track record at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, beating last year’s benchmark set by Lewis Hamilton in qualifying (1m16.173s). - It is the first time in Bottas’ F1 career that he has scored three consecutive pole positions, and also the first time he has beaten Hamilton in qualifying at three races in a row during their time together as teammates. - Hamilton had a battery charge issue at the end of Q2 which compromised his first Q3 run, before being told to back off during his final lap of the session due to track conditions worsening. - Both Bottas and Hamilton said they were surprised by the gap to Ferrari in qualifying as Sebastian Vettel finished eight-tenths of a second off the pole time. As the car update arms race rages on between the two front-running teams, it seems the pecking order has remained unchanged. - Max Verstappen was content with P4 on the grid for Red Bull as he split the Ferrari drivers, but felt Mercedes was out of reach at the front of the pack. Asked about his hopes for the race on Sunday, he said fighting for a podium would be the aim. - Teammate Pierre Gasly will start the race sixth on the grid, and took heart from a clean weekend up to now – something he has not entirely enjoyed so far this year. Gasly also said he felt the minor updates on the RB15 car were helping him grow more comfortable with the car after a tricky start to the year. - Charles Leclerc could only manage a single run in Q3 after damaging the underside of his car when running wide on a lap in Q2. While Ferrari repaired the car so he got out at the end of Q3, the Monegasque could only qualify fifth. - Haas comfortably finished as the leading midfield team on Saturday with Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen locking out the fourth row of the grid, half a second clear of Daniil Kvyat in P9. The team will be aiming to bounce back from a three-race run out of the points that has seen tyre woes blight its race pace. - Kvyat said he thought his Q2 lap was one of the best single laps of his F1 career. The effort got him through to Q3 where he finished ninth, lapping three-tenths of a second slower than his overall best effort. - Daniel Ricciardo made good on his hopes of getting into Q3 as he qualified P10 for Renault. He will drop to 13th on the grid as a result of a penalty for the collision with Kvyat in Azerbaijan. - Teammate Nico Hulkenberg dropped out in Q1 after a lock up sent him into the wall during his first run, damaging the front wing on his Renault. While Hulkenberg did get back out again after having a new front wing fitted, damage to the bargeboards limited him to P16 for the team. - Renault’s fast-tracked power unit update led to element changes for its drivers ahead of FP3. Hulkenberg took a new engine, turbocharger and MGU-H, matching Ricciardo’s changes from yesterday, while McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz updated the same parts on their customer engines. - Red Bull opted to change Pierre Gasly’s chassis ahead of FP3 on Saturday morning in order for the new parts to be fitted after the Frenchman did not run them during practice. The car re-passed scrutineering after checks by the stewards prior to the session. - George Russell was handed a five-place grid penalty as a result of a gearbox change following his FP3 crash, dropping him from P19 to P20 on the grid tomorrow behind teammate Robert Kubica.