My beloved son's funeral took place yesterday, so Formula 1 hasn't been the number one thing in my mind this weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony, but filled with tears, sadness and never-ending yearning. However, in spite of grieving the lost years, I want to gratefully pay attention to those 16 wonderful years, that I was privileged to spend with my dear Samuel.
In spite of all the sadness in my mind, watching Formula 1 felt the right thing to do. It was a cloudy day in Barcelona, which meant cooler track temperature and slippery conditions. Renault's Hulkenberg was the first driver to go off on the gravel in Q1. The German was able to continue, but groveling on the track ruined the first flyer for Kimi. Williams' Russell spun a moment later, which underlined the slippery conditions. Leclerc went fastest, with teammate Sebastian two tenths down on the Monegasque. Mercedes sent their drivers out not until in the halfway point of the session. Meanwhile, Verstappen set the fastest lap time. The Dutchman's joy was only momentary, as Bottas deprived the top spot of the Red Bull ace. Hamilton lost time behind one of the Racing Point cars, and the Briton was only third after his first flyer. On his second run Kimi made it 11th for Alfa Romeo Racing. Due to a problem-filled beginning of the session, Hulkenberg was the first driver to be knocked out of Q2. The German was accompanied with Racing Point's Stroll, Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi and the Williams duo of Russell and Kubica.
In Q2 the teams were unbelievably unanimous in terms of the tyre strategy. Everyone came out on the red-marked soft compound, although the medium rubber had produced very competitive lap times in the free practice sessions. Mercedes have conquered every pole at Circuit de Catalunya during the modern turbo hybrid era, so it was no surprise, that the Silver Arrows stamped their authority all over the place again. This time Hamilton set the benchmark, with teammate Bottas two tenths off the pace. Ferrari had brought an engine upgrade to their SF90 this weekend, but still, the Red Team were missing pace badly. Sebastian was massive six tenths down on the pace-setter Hamilton. Not to mention Leclerc, who had an extremely tame first run, which saw the Monegasque 1.4s off the pace. Alfa Romeo Racing were also struggling on the Circuit de Catalunya, especially in the low-speed corners. The Iceman's first run saw the Finn out of the top ten, and unfortunately his second run wasn't any more competitive. At the end of the session Bottas deprived his teammate of the top spot. Ferrari had no chance to match the Silver Arrows' pace; Sebastian was third and Leclerc fourth. Both McLarens were eliminated from Q3, as were Toro Rosso's Albon, Alfa Romeo's Räikkönen and Racing Point's Perez. Haas proved the strongest midfield team, as the American-based team got both cars among the top ten.
Which one of the Mercedes aces was to snatch pole? The flying Finn Bottas gave his answer already on his first run. The beard-faced Finn set an incomprehensible lap time, which left teammate Hamilton massive six tenths shy of his teammate's phenomenal lap time. Sebastian was third, which seemed the absolute maximum for the German. It was kind of sad to witness, that there were unbelievable eight tenths separating Sebastian from the leading Finn. After the first runs Verstappen was fourth and Gasly fifth. Ferrari youngster Leclerc had a single run only, which made him not higher than fifth in the standings. Neither one of the top four drivers was able to improve their positions at the end, which meant a sensational third pole in a row for the brand new Bottas 2.0. As Leclerc split the Red Bulls, Gasly was left sixth. The Haas duo of Grosjean and Magnussen locked down the fourth row, with Toro Rosso's Kvyat and Renault's Ricciardo completing the top ten.
I'm sure tomorrow's start will see an epic and fiery battle between the Mercedes teammates. I bet Hamilton is fed up with watching the back lights of his teammate's W09, so I'm sure he won't "play nice" at the start anymore. Mercedes' race pace is in a class of their own, so without any Mercedes drama Sebastian has no chance to make it higher than P3 tomorrow. One thing is for sure: in order to keep their championship hopes alive, Ferrari desperately need to score more points than Mercedes tomorrow!
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