Mercedes achieved their first 1-2 lockout of 2018 for the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton taking pole position.
Are Mercedes back? Are Ferrari and Red Bull Racing showing their true pace? For the first time this year, Mercedes have topped all practice sessions during a Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend. The Silver Arrows paced the grid with a 1-2 finish in FP1 and FP3, and Lewis Hamilton was able to grab P1 from the Red Bull Racing pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen by a tenth in FP2.
For new championship points leader Hamilton, leading two of the three practice sessions of the first European races should be a huge morale booster heading into qualifying considering recent form.
For the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, Spain hasn’t been kind to them, as they struggled for pace in the early going and Raikkonen took on new engine components as the precaution after a suspected engine failure in FP2. They hoped to show improvement by the start of qualifying. For Red Bull, after their coming together in Azerbaijan, Ricciardo and Verstappen are being closely watched, so how would they react in qualifying?
Qualifying 1
Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley did not make qualifying after his big FP3 accident. Williams’ Lance Stroll post the first time of the session with a lap at 1:20.600. Ferrari led 1-2 with Raikkonen in P1. Hamilton split the Ferrari on his first timed lap with a lap at 1:17.638. Vettel took P1 with a lap at 1:17.031. Nico Hulkenberg’s gearbox seems to be a little “grindy”. Verstappen split Ferrari with a lap at 1:17.380 for P2.
Williams’ Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin were the drop zone, as was Sauber’s Ericsson. Hulkenberg couldn’t make Q2 despite his one-lap attempt and will start P16. At the checkered flag, Stroll took to the gravel on the exit of turn 12.
Eliminated in Q1: Hulkenberg, Ericsson, Sirotkin, Stroll, Hartley (no time)
Qualifying 2
A number of drivers took the preferred soft tires for their first laps in Q2, including the top three teams: Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. The teams on the soft tire went two-by-two, first Haas, then Red Bull, Mercedes and finally Ferrari, with Vettel fastest of all with a lap at 1:16.802.
Fernando Alonso took P9 with his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in the drop zone in P11. Carlos Sainz, the only Renault driver left in qualifying, rounded out the top-10. Magnussen split the Red Bull drivers in P6 with his second run. Hamilton and Ricciardo took supersoft tires for a Q3 sighting lap. Both would still start on soft tires.
Force India couldn’t get out of qualifying despite their new aero update and Mercedes engine.
Eliminated in Q2: Vandoorne; Pierre Gasly; Esteban Ocon; Charles Leclerc; Sergio Perez
Qualifying 3
Of the first posted times in Q3, Ricciardo puts in a lap at 1:16.818, which Verstappen edged by 0.002 seconds as Red Bull kicked things off. Hamilton took provisional pole with a lap at 1:16.461. Verstappen and Ricciardo stayed P2 and P3, respectively. The Ferrari pair only managed P5 and P7, also their car numbers, after the first runs. Alonso took P6 after the first run. The difference between Hamilton and Vettel was more than seven tenths of a second.
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Ricciardo went out on soft tyres for his second run and stayed P3. The rest of the top 10 stayed on supersoft tires. Hamilton improved on his first run time to keep pole with a lap at 1:16.173. His teammate Valtteri Bottas slotted into P2 behind Hamilton by just 0.040 seconds.
Vettel and Raikkonen improved on their first runs but had to settle for the second row, P3 and P4, respectively. Red Bull locked out the third row. The top three teams will go two-by-two on race day. Alonso and Sainz, the two Spanish drivers, took P8 and P9, respectively,while the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean took P7 and P10, respectively.
Provisional Grid for 2018 Spanish Grand Prix
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Manufacturer |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | #44, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Mercedes |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | #77, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Mercedes |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | #5, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | #7, Scuderia Ferrari, Ferrari |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Renault |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | #3, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, Renault |
| 7 | Kevin Magnussen | #20, Haas, Ferrari |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | #14, McLaren, Renault |
| 9 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | #55, Renault Sport, Renault |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | #8, Haas, Ferrari |
| 11 | Stoffel Vandoorne | #2, McLaren, Renault |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | #10, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Honda |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | #31, Sahara Force India, Mercedes |
| 14 | Charles Leclerc | #16, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Ferrari |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | #11, Sahara Force India, Mercedes |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | #27, Renault Sport, Renault |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | #9, Alfa Romeo Sauber, Ferrari |
| 18 | Sergey Sirotkin | #35, Williams Martini Racing, Mercedes |
| 19 | Lance Stroll | #18, Williams Martini Racing, Mercedes |
| 20 | Brendon Hartley | #28, Scuderia Toro Rosso, Honda |
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With the top three teams taking the top three rows in lockout fashion, there will be inter-team play aplenty going into turn one on race day, especially among the Red Bull pair. Who will emerge from turn one in the lead and unscathed? How will the midfielders play into the turn one battle? Will the Spanish Grand Prix throw up any surprises in its 66 laps? Tune in to the race at 9:05 a.m. ET on ESPN2 on Sunday, May 13 to find out.