Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas takes pole for 2019 Spanish Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas took the pole position for the fifth race on the 2019 Formula 1 schedule, the Spanish Grand Prix, at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas took his third pole position of the 21-race 2019 Formula 1 season for the season’s fifth race, the Spanish Grand Prix. This pole position is his third consecutive pole position going back to the season’s third race, the Chinese Grand Prix.

Bottas took the pole position for this 66-lap race around the 16-turn, 2.892-mile (4.654-kilometer) Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya road course in Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain by recording a top lap time of 75.406 seconds (138.069 miles per hour) in the third and final round of qualifying for the race.

Bottas’s top lap time in this qualifying session, which was a new track record, left everybody else in the dust. Even the top lap time of teammate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in second place to give Mercedes their fourth front row lockout of the season and their third consecutive front row lockout, was 0.634 seconds (1.152 miles per hour) slower than that of Bottas.

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Hamilton’s top lap time of the third and final round of qualifying for this race was 76.040 seconds (136.917 miles per hour).

Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel qualified in third place for this race. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc are set to round out the top five on the starting grid after qualifying in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly, Rich Energy Haas teammates Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo are set to round out the top 10 on the starting grid after qualifying in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place, respectively.

McLaren rookie Lando Norris, Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr., Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen and SportPesa Racing Point’s Sergio Perez were eliminated following the second round of qualifying for the race and are set to start in 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th place, respectively.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, Alfa Romeo Racing rookie Antonio Giovinazzi and ROKiT Williams Racing teammates George Russell, a rookie, and Robert Kubica were eliminated following the first round of qualifying for the race and are set to start in 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th place, respectively.

Russell and Kubica have still not yet outqualified any non-Williams driver at any point so far this season.

Here are the full qualifying results of the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Qualifying Results
1st – Valtteri Bottas
2nd – Lewis Hamilton
3rd – Sebastian Vettel
4th – Max Verstappen
5th – Charles Leclerc
6th – Pierre Gasly
7th – Romain Grosjean
8th – Kevin Magnussen
9th – Daniil Kvyat
10th – Daniel Ricciardo
11th – Lando Norris
12th – Alexander Albon
13th – Carlos Sainz Jr.
14th – Kimi Raikkonen
15th – Sergio Perez
16th – Nico Hulkenberg
17th – Lance Stroll
18th – Antonio Giovinazzi
19th – George Russell
20th – Robert Kubica

The live broadcast of the 2019 Formula 1 season’s fifth race, the Spanish Grand Prix, is set to begin on ESPN2 from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya tomorrow morning at 9:10 a.m. ET.