Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Circuit de Catalunya, 2021

Hamilton takes 100th pole by hundredths from Verstappen

2021 Spanish Grand Prix qualifying

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Lewis Hamilton took the 100th pole position of his career after beating championship rival Max Verstappen by only 0.036s.

As in last weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, none of the front runners was able to find time on their final runs in Q3, with Hamilton and Verstappen lining up ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Charles Leclerc.

Esteban Ocon will start fifth after Alpine’s best qualifying performance of the season so far. Sergio Perez will start in eighth on the grid after a spin in Q3.

Q1

The start of qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix was delayed by 10 minutes to allow for repair work on barriers around the Circuit de Catalunya to be completed.
Both Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez opted to take their first runs of qualifying on the soft tyres, as did the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Mercedes chose instead to go on the medium tyres, with Valtteri Bottas going quickest of all and Hamilton sixth quickest behind Sainz and the two Red Bulls.

Lando Norris went quickest of all in the first sector on his first hot-lap of the day. But his effort was ruined when he came across a gaggle of cars at the chicane, all trying to make space ahead of their own laps. The stewards will investigate the incident after qualifying.

In the closing minutes of the session, Kimi Raikkonen was able to briefly jump into safety in 15th, before being knocked out by Lance Stroll and Alfa Romeo team mate Antonio Giovinazzi.

With George Russell and Sebastian Vettel also improving, Yuki Tsunoda was at risk of a surprise early elimination. Unfortunately for the AlphaTauri driver, he ran wide on the exit of turn 11 and went onto the gravel, meaning he could not improve and secured his elimination.

“I can’t [censored by FOM] believe this car!,” the rookie shouted over team radio.

Joining Tsunoda in elimination were Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher, Nicholas Latifi and Nikita Mazepin.

As the chequered flag flew, Lando Norris’s final attempt was traffic-free and the McLaren driver took advantage to record a 1’17.821 – the fastest time of the session and quickest of the weekend up to that point.

Drivers eliminated in Q1

16Yuki TsunodaAlphaTauri-Honda1’18.556
17Kimi RaikkonenAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’18.917
18Mick SchumacherHaas-Ferrari1’19.117
19Nicholas LatifiWilliams-Mercedes1’19.219
20Nikita MazepinHaas-Ferrari1’19.807

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Q2

The wind began to pick up as the second session of qualifying began. With the field so close, no team opted to take a risk and qualify on the medium tyres.

Valtteri Bottas was again faster than Hamilton as lap times began to fall deep into the 1’17s with Norris once again showing good pace by being faster than the two Ferrari team mates after his first attempt.

But Max Verstappen’s first lap was an ominous one for his Mercedes rivals, as he was the first to break into the 1’16s to go almost half a second faster than Bottas and seven tenths quicker than Hamilton.

George Russell – not for the first time – chose to wait until the track had cleared before making his first attempt in his Williams. His first time was only enough to move him to 14th, ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi.

With seconds ticking down, Sergio Perez put himself safely through into Q3 with a greatly improved lap, with Daniel Ricciardo also making his final lap count to move out of the drop zone.

By the time the session had ended, Lance Stroll was eliminated, with the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly also knocked out in 12th ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the second Aston Martin.

Antonio Giovinazzi improved to move ahead of George Russell, who will start 15th for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Just over a tenth of a second separated Fernando Alonso in tenth to Vettel in 13th.

Drivers eliminated in Q2

11Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1’17.974
12Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri-Honda1’17.982
13Sebastian VettelAston Martin-Mercedes1’18.079
14Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo-Ferrari1’18.356
15George RussellWilliams-Mercedes1’19.154

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Q3

Ocon was told by his engineer that Q3 would be a matter of “who jumps first” as the final shootout for pole position began. And when the Alpine driver went provisionally fastest ahead of both McLarens and both Ferraris on used soft tyres, it looked like an accurate prophecy.

But after Hamilton and Verstappen had completed their first runs, it was Hamilton who held the slightest of advantages, just 0.036s ahead of his main championship rival, with Bottas in third.

Sergio Perez ruined his first attempt by spinning his Red Bull on the approach to turn 12, bringing out the yellow flags but able to recover without compromising any of his rivals’ runs.

With just two minutes remaining, the field of ten cars all ventured out for the final run together. Verstappen was anxious not to miss out on starting his lap and passed a number of cars on the out-lap, including the two Ferraris, to ensure he would cross the line in time.

Perez spun away his chances of a strong start
Despite Hamilton failing to improve on his own provisional pole time after running wide out of the chicane, neither Verstappen or Bottas would also be able to find time on their second runs, meaning that Lewis Hamilton would take pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix – his 100th pole in his F1 career.

Verstappen will line up behind his championship rival on the front row, with Bottas in third. Charles Leclerc will line up fourth for Ferrari, with Esteban Ocon securing Alpine’s best starting position of the season in fifth.

Carlos Sainz Jnr will start sixth in the second Ferrari, with Daniel Ricciardo in seventh after he failed to reach the chequered flag in time to start his final run. Sergio Perez could only manage eighth on the grid in the second Red Bull, with Lando Norris and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top ten.

Top ten in Q3

1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’16.741
2Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda1’16.777
3Valtteri BottasMercedes1’16.873
4Charles LeclercFerrari1’17.510
5Esteban OconAlpine-Renault1’17.580
6Carlos Sainz JnrFerrari1’17.620
7Daniel RicciardoMcLaren-Mercedes1’17.622
8Sergio PerezRed Bull-Honda1’17.701
9Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1’18.010
10Fernando AlonsoAlpine-Renault1’18.147

2021 Spanish Grand Prix

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Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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114 comments on “Hamilton takes 100th pole by hundredths from Verstappen”

  1. 100 poles and counting

  2. MGEA!
    Racing Demi-god

    1. People talking like Max was beaten on pure merit. Maybe, but I doubt it. The Mercedes is still the fastest car. Max is simply making it look like it’s equal. Until Perez starts being Bottas in quali or at least getting close, there’s no reason to say that the car with what 8 straight titles under its belt still isn’t the best car on the grid.

      1. There will always be an excuse why. Even if Lewis beat Max/Charles/ George/ Lando in the same car some would always say ” yeh but no but…” Today, Lewis beat Max. The margin suggests driver input is most definitely a factor!
        He has now done this 100 times. Surely some props are in order?

        1. @deanr
          Bottas in the same car, yeah but he is not Max caliber…
          Hamilton beat Max, yeah but he has a better car.
          Perez ? yeah but he is new
          Oco, Ric, Sainz ? yeah but there was a butterfly which flapped its wing in perez’ direction to disorient his car :)
          Alo in the same car as Lewis?, yeah but Ham was Fav home boy, against a 2 time WDC :)

          ah well… yeah but….

          1. “Yeh but, no but, Yeh but…”
            100 POLE POSITIONS!! No matter your stance on Lewis, props are deserved. We won’t see that from the “yeh but, no but, Yeh but, no but…” crowd! It will save you all a lot of angst if you just admit that Lewis might just be a bit special.
            But… “yeh but no, but yeh, but no….”

          2. To clarify, I’m not questioning the astounding records of Lewis. Simply the idiotic conceit that Sky has pushed about the RBR being the fastest. Unless Bottas can hang with Max in a slower car, this seems not to be the case at all.

        2. @DeanR
          Bottas is simply a quicker and better driver than Perez. Simple as that.
          Plus, Mercedes treats its drivers equally, Red Bull does not.

  3. I’m so pleased for Ocon! Against all expectations he’s been doing extremely well. I knew he had it in him.

    1. Yeah. Me too. I didn’t like all the anti-Ocon rubbish some wrote and said about him not been a good team-mate.

      Always thought he had talent and if he could beat Alonso, over the season, it would elevate him into that group of young drivers who could be future F1 champions

      1. Anon A. Mouse
        8th May 2021, 18:25

        Ocon was one of the chosen ones among some, until the collision with Verstappen in Brazil. Then after that it was the typical dragging through the mud.

  4. Ocon doing some dirty work lately…

    1. @Krichelle
      Very much indeed.
      I honestly wouldn’t have bet a dime on him being so consistently quicker than Alonso.

  5. Congratulations Lewis Hamilton, that’s an astounding achievement.
    Ricciardo outqualifying Norris (by 4 tenths) and Perez a second behind Max, wow. Ocon too, 5th place and 6 tenths ahead of Alonso, impressive.

  6. Congratulations to Lewis.
    Max had an equal car and he is miles ahead of Lewis….oh wait
    Lewis is even facing pressure from his team mate in qualifying which Max doesn’t. Ordinary Perez is no threat to Max unlike Bottas who is one of the fastest qualifiers on the grid.

    1. How do you know the cars are equal?

      Sounds like a similar assumption of what your responding to imho

      1. lexusreliability?
        8th May 2021, 17:55

        @anunaki

        I concur. The cars are not equal, Red Bull has a clear advantage.

        1. Exactly. It’s not like Mercedes are the ones with 2 cars in the top 3 at the end of every quali.

        2. Clearly made visible by Perez

          1. Red Bull never treated a driver like they treat Max,remember how they hampered Ricciardo when he was ahead in the championship?
            Bottas, on the other hand, has the exact same opportunities as Lewis.

          2. Also the chill pills have an opportunity to be used.

      2. @anunaki It sounds like the same baseless assumption made by countless orange fans who claim that “Verstappen would destroy Hamilton” in equal cars.

        1. Well everyone can claim that, because we never know. It’s never going to happen.

          All we know for sure is they are both very good racing drivers. And one of them has driven a WCC car for years and the other hasn’t.

          It’s all pure speculation

  7. Let’s be fair, though, how many did he miss? In that rocket ship he should have got 95% of poles contested in his Mercedes years, at the least. But he didn’t did he?

    1. Balloon Moon
      8th May 2021, 15:55

      Yeah well, I’m sure he’s upset….. not as much as you though :D

    2. Lol, you’ve jumped the shark on this one I’m afraid, need to reel it in and make your sarcasm a bit more believable.

      1. @carbron Let’s be fair, though, how many first posts did Rodber miss? Bouncing up and down on that rubber shark of his, he should have got 95% of posts rubbishing Hamilton in first over the years. It’s not as though he has to engage brain before posting. But he didn’t did he?

    3. You seem unable to respect and recognise this achievement, which, even for most neutral observer would be regarded as quite the milestone. Even a cursory listen to those within F1 (and therefore know) who comment on Hamilton’s achievements say the opposite to you .. is there nothing you can learn or admit from this?

      1. How many poles did hamilton get without an overall dominant mercedes, 20? Who else got 20 poles, hakkinen?

        1. Are you going to answer the question or not

        2. How many poles did Schumacher get without an overall dominant Ferrari, 10? Who else got 10 poles, Coulthard?

          See what I did there?

          1. @gufdamm

            How many poles did Schumacher get without an overall dominant Ferrari

            You have to subtract the poles he got in 2002 and 2004 from a total of 68 pole positions. Which is 68 – (7+8) = 53 pole positions. People tend to believe that Schumacher was driving a dominant car in his entire career. Ferrari were dominant only in 2002 and 2004 and even in those years they were nowhere near the level of dominance displayed by Mercedes in the hybrid era.

          2. @Tifoso1989
            On the same note, people like you and @esploratore tend to believe Hamilton drove a dominant Mercedes his entire career.
            Actually, Ferrari was very much on par for most of 2017 season and clearly had an outright better package for two thirds of 2018 season, yet Hamilton won both titles.

          3. @liko41
            First of all, I was talking about Schumacher not Hamilton, don’t put words in my mouth. Second, you have been very selective in your examples and wrong too.

            In 2017 Ferrari was faster than Mercedes in high downforce tracks (Monaco, Hungary, Singapore…), though it lacked BHP, high speed aero and reliability which backfired at the end of the season. Ferrari were caught by a technical directive with regard to oil burn in Baku that forced them to removed a secondary oil tank and Mercedes introduced their final PU in Spa instead of Monza and therefore didn’t have to comply with the stricter oil consumption limit of 0.6L/100km which was imposed from the Italian GP. From that point onward it was case closed.

            In 2018 Ferrari was genuinely faster than Mercedes in 3 races Hockenheim, Baku and Spa which is not two thirds of 2018 season. How about 2014,2015,2016,2019 and 2020 ?

            Take nothing from Hamilton who has shown relentless consistency and brilliancy over the years but I don’t have to agree with the theory that he wasn’t driving a dominant car because that’s not true as well. There are also plenty of people around the world who genuinely believe the earth is flat :)

          4. @tifoso1989 Just LOL.
            By Belgian GP Ferrari should have been so far away in the standings, they wouldn’t have to worry about engines anymore. They weren’t because hamilton kept up with Vettel with an inferior car.
            I honestly feel embarassed for you, “dislikers”, because honestly your comments aren’t even funny anymore. They are just so pathetic.

          5. @liko41

            By Belgian GP Ferrari should have been so far away in the standings, they wouldn’t have to worry about engines anymore

            Get your facts right before commenting and stop your completely irrelevant cry. Mercedes led Ferrari by thirty-nine points before the 2017 Belgian GP. Do you have anything else or we have to be treated with your boring rant forever because if there is someone who is getting pathetic here it’s you.

          6. @tifoso1989
            LOL, you ferraristas “dislikers” are honestly HILARIOUS, lol.
            Get a life, dude. The man you “dislike” is rewriting history, whether you like it or not.
            Stop making a fool of yourself.

          7. Where’s your chill pill huh? Where’s your chill pill?

          8. “lOl, you ferRariStas “DISLIKErs” Are HonEstLy hiLARIOUS, lol.
            GET a lIfE, DUDe. thE maN yOU “diSlIKe” is ReWRITiNg hiSTOry, wHetHER you liKE iT oR nOT.
            sTOP MAKInG a fOol of yoUrsELf.”

            How about you take a chill pill instead of having a public beef with another site member? You wanna harass the hell out of him, tough guy? You think you’re a tough guy, huh? Yeah, you love these ——- tough guy lines, don’t ya huh? —- YOU!

        3. Dave (@davewillisporter)
          8th May 2021, 18:09

          @esploratore 31 poles without a dominant car from 2007 to 2013 seasons. That tally alone puts him eighth on the all time list just behind Jim Clark on 33, Prost on 33 and Mansell on 32. What have Clark, Prost and Mansell got in common????? Hmmm, oh yeah, they were epic drivers!

          Absent of a great car, if he had just continued this trend he would have beaten Schumacher some time this season for the all time record. As it is he smashed the record clean out of range for decades.

        4. @esploratore
          You definitely should explore better the sporting world, esploratore, in order to find something you really understand.
          Formula one is clearly not that something.

    4. Your salt just makes this pole even better.

    5. Indeed, these continual Rodber comments about Hamilton I actually enjoy now.

    6. lexusreliability?
      8th May 2021, 17:59

      @Rodber,

      Well maybe if he had a team mate who was not allowed to challenge him like Barrichello he would have grabbed all of the poles just like Schumi did in the Ferrari. Oh wait, even with Rubens being asked to move over all the time, Schumi didn’t beat him 100% of the time……..

      Hamilton has booked his seat at the very top of F1 and your irrelevant opinion counts for the square root of FA.

    7. Dave (@davewillisporter)
      8th May 2021, 18:02

      31 poles from 2007 to 2013. That’s more poles than most world champions achieve in their entire careers. Even more impressive is that during those 7 years the McLaren was joint fastest for just 2, the rest were second or third fastest cars. It ain’t just the car.

    8. Fair play Rodber. You are consistent if nothing else.
      100 PPs, HOWEVER they are obtained, surely deserves some positive acknowledgement even from a dried up husk like yourself?

      1. Dry? husk? I’m fresh as a daisy, thank you DeanR

    9. And here we go…

  8. Congrats Lewis. 100 poles!!!!

    Meanwhile Toto: ‘ We got lucky’

    1. RocketTankski
      8th May 2021, 22:39

      I mean it’s still not clear if Lewis has the most poles. Maybe he does. Or maybe one of the other drivers will have more poles. Who knows. We need to keep our heads down and keep working hard. I mean Nikita is looking very strong around here, and the Williams is always a threat. So I guess we’ll just have to wait until the next few races to see the full picture.

  9. Bit embarrassing there about Ricciardo, he certainly isn’t having the smoothest first races at the team. Though probably better than his in his first year with Renault :)

  10. My observations:
    1. Lewis Hamilton breaking records is not news anymore, he’s just phenomenal .
    2. Esteban Ocon seems to be the current better qualifier than Alonso.
    3. Ricciardo is starting to understand the car better.
    4. Tsunoda needs to know when to criticize his car or team, it’s a little early to start making accusations about his team in public.
    5. Sergio Perez needs to step up, otherwise the pressure is mounting with each poor performance.
    6. The RB16B and the W12 seems pretty much on par performance-wise.
    7. The midfield battle is mighty to say the least.

  11. LB (@burden93)
    8th May 2021, 15:58

    100 poles! Incredible number, that record will stand for many many years. There have been some magnificent laps down the years, Singapore 2018 and Korea 2011 are up there for me. What an achievement though!

    Great qualifying session, closest it’s been for a long time (amongst all the cars). The midfield is exceptionally close, the drivers really are making the difference. Glad to see Danny Ric doing better, hopefully can carry this into the race

    1. RandomMallard (@)
      8th May 2021, 16:17

      I still go back and watch that Singapore lap, and am just in awe at the whole thing. It was remarkable.

      1. Some would have us believe the W09 flew around Singapore by itself. It’s all the car, after all… but only when talking about Hamilton, of course…

      2. I’m hoping Sky will do a special and show all his 100 poles

        1. At around 1:30 per lap, as an average, the video of all of his poles would be around 2 hours long, even if there was no single break between each lap and they where just played back-to-back

          1. Great!! So we’ll have a three hour special

      3. AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
        8th May 2021, 16:49

        That and Ricciardo’s 2016 Monaco Pole lap are 2 gems from this hybrid era. The way he hustled his RB around the swimming pool chicane is pure gold.

        1. The only Monaco pole lap videos I have are Senna and Ricciardo

  12. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    8th May 2021, 16:11

    *facedesk*

    1. You’ll have many more “facedesks” this season @rocketpanda. Just become Lewis’ fan for your own sanity :-D

  13. RandomMallard (@)
    8th May 2021, 16:20

    Are we potentially looking at a 2 stop race in top 10 tomorrow, with everyone starting on softs? Well, either that or we have a one stop and 15 minutes till rain all afternoon. I can dream

    1. No, the hards seemed very consistent on Friday and both Merc and RBR seemed quick on them. Will be a one-stop to hards for both the soft and medium starters I recon.

  14. Another though day to Hamilton´s horde of ‘dislikers.’

    1. Or maybe for realists, who don’t find 100 poles with a rocketship as anything special: hamilton’s poles without a dominant car would be a very minor % of those 100.

      Also, some people seem to say: omg, hamilton is so great, he beat verstappen again with the same car, but mmmm, who says their car is performing at the same level in qualifying on this track? Many of you are applauding hamilton’s achievements, but he only beat bottas by 1 tenth in this circumstance, ofc bottas is stronger in quali than race, but is considered as an average driver by many. Who’s to say mercedes in these circumstances isn’t actually 1-2 tenths faster? I wouldn’t be surprised about verstappen beating bottas by 2-3 tenths on pace, and perez is not anywhere near to give a more accurate representation of red bull’s speed.

      1. Your extra-factual renditions are always interesting to read – not least because they show how much contortions an individual is willing to twist themselves into, just so they dont have to accept the truth.

        If you had been following Formula 1 before Verstappen came into it, then maybe you wouldn’t be making illogical statements like – “who don’t find 100 poles with a rocketship as anything special”.

        As for who’s to say Mercedes in these circumstances isn’t actually 1-2 tenths faster? Well, no one has actually made that claim, except you, the armchair expert. Never mind who’s to say that it isn’t 2/10ths slower.

        At the beginning of the season, Red Bull says they have a faster car, Mercedes said Red Bulll have a faster car, and the whole paddock says red Bull have a faster car. Of course, Esploratore, with his reams of inside knowledge not available to anyone else, says they are slower. I guess we’ll just have to believe him.

      2. Nearly a third is not “a very minor %”

        Name us another driver who got 31 poles when his car was never demonstrably the best on the grid. I bet you’ll only be able to name Senna and Shui – which is exactly the point

        Over to you

      3. No matter if you’re right or not abour Lewis and his cars: today’s not the day.

        And sorry to say that, but the world doesnt care about you opinion.

        Get a rest.

      4. We should screenshot your response and put it under the definition of “Mental Gymnastics”. Thank you @esploratore, for helping define certain complex terms with great examples!

      5. ian dearing
        8th May 2021, 17:11

        Realist? Is that what you, Rodber and a boy named Boo call your little group these days?

        1. hahaha The Rodber gang :)

          1. Probably all Dutchies

          2. And here we go.

      6. lexusreliability?
        8th May 2021, 18:20

        @esploratore

        Let’s flip your logic on it’s head. What has Max Verstappen’s toughest test in F1 been? Daniel Ricciardo. Even then, Max Verstappen was defeated by Ricciardo twice.

        Next, Hamilton beat Bottas by only a tenth as you put it. Max was outqualified by Perez not so long ago, who frankly is very average in qualy. So I guess that means Max is dismal then?

        Also, Bottas may not be the very best F1 driver we’ve ever seen, but he’s a damn side better than Gasly and Albon. If you want to delve deeper, we can also have a look at their junior formulae records. Despite Max missing GP2/F2, it’s still not even close. Heck, even Ocon beat Verstappen to the F3 title even though he wasn’t quicker. Russell/Leclerc even have better junior records than Max.

        So I think if you want to judge Hamilton harshly who has proven himself across tougher tests across his career, that’s fine. But by that same measure, Verstappen is nowhere given he falls short on the junior categories and in F1 is yet to achieve anything of note. Go figure

        1. Max Verstappen was defeated by Ricciardo twice.

          almost correct it was three times indeed and all the other 12 races max defeated Ricci ;)
          It’s remarkable how reality seems to live in another dimension by some.

          1. lexusreliability?
            8th May 2021, 19:02

            @erikje

            You can add as many asterisks and explanations as you want to morph the facts into your own reality. Surprisingly, you don’t afford the same exceptions to Hamilton vs Rosberg in 2016. Talk about another “dimension” indeed.

          2. @lexusreliability? i mentioned the hard and cold facts.
            You can check them for yourself.. Only the first year Ricci did good but the second year max was better on all statistics.
            But do believe your own stories if you sleep better ;)

          3. lexusreliabilty?
            8th May 2021, 21:15

            @erikje

            No, you mentioned your opinion.
            Here are the facts:
            2016- Verstappen 5th, Ricciardo 3rd
            2017- Ricciardo 5th, Verstappen 6th.

            This is from the FIA- facts. Now please, feel free to provide your alternative so called “facts” with evidence. Not opinion, facts. Feel free to seek adult help if you’re struggling to differentiate between fact and opinion as well.

      7. ” YEH BUT, NO BUT, YEH BUT….” You sound just like Vicki Pollard. I’m sure there is a striking physical resemblance too.

      8. lol, @esploratore, if you put the same consistence on getting a proper life instead of just “disliking” an all time great on social media, you would achieve something remarkable yourself :D

  15. Quite interesting to see how both Alonso, Vettel and Ricciardo are getting to grips with their new teams and cars relative to their teammates. It’s hard to draw too many conclusions now, but Vettel is almost matching Stroll now and Ricciardo is about there as well. Alonso not being in F1 last year probably means he needs a bit more time to get the better of Ocon – which one has to assume he will sooner rather than later.

  16. AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
    8th May 2021, 16:32

    The shot of Toto Wolff staring at the camera in the little highlight reel after the session spoke volumes about how Mercedes have got RB covered for the rest of the season.

  17. Great qualy again!! Noting between Max and Lewis. Perez though……

  18. Quite an achievement by Lewis! Good quali from Max and even Valtteri as well, Perez on the other hand is sinking into the Gasly/Albon territory.

  19. I honestly didn’t expect him to get it today, pretty sure Rbr had this sewn up. Mercs have made a great car but it still needs to be driven. Well done to Hamilton, missed opportunity for Bottas and Verstappen.

    1. Yeah, Hamilton really took the pole today. Max got beaten by pure class and on merit. That will hurt.

      1. if the

        pure class and on merit

        is 0,036 miliseconds i do not think he will worry to long.
        The Merc is still the faster car as qualification showed again. But Lewis did a great job. Even with this fast car he still have to perform on the toplevel. Real competition, something new for Lewis the last years.

        1. “Yeh but, no but, yeh but…”
          P1 = Lewis Hamilton P2 = Max V enjoy the race x

  20. Not a fan of Bottas, but this shows once again he’s a good driver and better than Perez. Even if the Mercedes is faster than the RBR which I think it still is. Bottas rarely has a big gap to Hamilton who has the most poles in history. Meanwhile, Perez is starting to slide down to Albon like gaps.

  21. Dave (@davewillisporter)
    8th May 2021, 18:25

    100 poles and still the detractors shed salty tears of rage! Suck it up buttercups! He is that good. Max is incredibly fast as is Bottas and Rosberg was a quali specialist. That’s good competition he is beating.

    Just some perspective as I feel it needs repeating again and again until people get it. Pre turbo hybrid era Mercedes dominance and less than half way through his career Lewis had already achieved 31 poles from 2007 to 2013. That’s eighth on the all time list of poles in less than half his career. That beats some greats like Nikki Lauder, Fangio, Hakkinnen, Alonso! It’s up there with Clark, Prost and Mansell over their ENTIRE careers!

    Some more records for the salty. Most wins in a season in Euro F3. Most wins in a season in GP3 / F3.

    For the very last time. HIS CAREER DIDN’T START IN 2014!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Get it!

    1. It sounds like you think there are people that dont think Lewis is a great driver. Dont understand the point here

      1. Just read above – there are plenty of people who think Hamilton is a very good but definitely not great driver. I’m no fan of his, but I think he’s deserving of that description.

        1. But whats the link to Max all the time. They are from a different generation. One almost finished and the other getting warmed up. People seem to feel the need to prove Lewis is better than Max. Probably because some of Lewis shine is taken away by the car. Which is undeniable, just look at Rosberg and Bottas. Nevertheles he is still good, one of the best. Dont think his (soon) 8 titles reflect reality vs other drivers though, that part is luck. But hey, we all fare well on luck, so good for him

    2. Toooooooooo many exclamation marks but I get it though.

  22. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    8th May 2021, 18:35

    Lewis was overcome by emotion after he parked the car. Best interview! One century down, one more to go.

    1. Any ideas why the gaps were so small in Q1 and widened quite a bit afterwards?

  23. Any ideas why the gaps were so small in Q1 and widened quite a bit afterwards?

    1. lexusreliability?
      8th May 2021, 19:04

      Engine modes

      1. Not allowed in this dimension ;)

        1. Exactly as erikje said, not allowed, that’s why I am a bit puzzled.

        2. lexusreliabilty?
          8th May 2021, 21:19

          @erikje

          Not in the form that they used to run them in previous years, but the teams have found ways to run their engines consevatively throughout the weekend. Welcome to F1, where teams always find ways to legally circumvent the rules

  24. Why do Lewis and Toto celebrate each pole or victory as if its something special? It has become the norm for 7 years now, and its no surprise to anyone anymore. Thanks to by far the fastest car on the grid, as was shown clearly by Russel in Bahrein 2020.

    1. You don’t get 100 poles every day, give him a break @petterson. It’s true he does it every time but at least today it was completely justified. But the congratulations from the team were lukewarm at best.

    2. @petterson
      Actually, Russell proved that even an undisputably talented one-lap specialist driver like himself can be beaten by Bottas in quali.
      Plus, Verstappen proved himself how difficult it actually is to convert a better outright package into pole positions and race wins (watch again Turkey 2020, Bahrain 2021 and Imola quali 2021).
      Doing that so often is not by far a given.

    3. The, they shouldn’t celebrate! I mean goodness me…whatever next! 2 guys celebrating success, MADNESS!!!

  25. IsaacAndrews
    8th May 2021, 20:40

    100 Poles is a mighty, almost unthinkable achievement. The raw speed and consistency is what has delivered these record breaking results, and it’s wholesome to see history in the making.

    There are several poles that stand out for me – most notably Singapore 2018 and Silverstone 2018 as really mega laps. Also Monza 2016 and 2017 were super performances, and I remember him taking pole at Korea (2011) – the only non-Red Bull pole that season.

    I would love to hear other people’s top picks for Hamilton’s pole laps: which ones stand out as great laps?

  26. More poles than Prost and Senna combined. Epic. GOAT!

  27. I’m shocked, shocked, well not that shocked. Merc pook like they are in 2018, they only go full power for q3.

  28. Muahaha. Que Toto saying how big a threat RBR is.. Oh and also Ferrari, McLaren, everyone.

  29. Hamilton actually admitted to playing with his settings to geetbthe pole today. Which he dpesnt always do. He is soo naturally fast he usually sets his car up more race inclined. And sacrifices quali set up. Which is why he preserves his tyres soo much better than his partners during the race. Amazing what he can do when he fine tunes his machine.

  30. I can’t for the life of me understand the negativity. Surely one can have respect and admiration without being a fan? Irrespective of your opinion of Lewis, he is objectively and incredibly good driver and has achieved what only a generation ago seemed completely out of reach. Please appreciate the master behind the wheel. These types don’t show up in sport all that often. Would there have been such denigration for Jim Clark, Fangio or Lauda had social media been a thing in their eras?

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