Lewis Hamilton pipped his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to secure his fourth pole position of the season ahead of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Once again the battle for pole came down to a fight between the two Mercedes drivers with the Brit emerging on top by just 0.168s.
Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo proved to be the best of the rest with the Australian posting the third fastest time, as he continued to over shadow his world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel will start from 10th on the grid after suffering a mechanical failure at the start of Q3.
The German, who missed the majority of Friday Free Practice with an electrical problem, was unable to post a time after coming to a halt on circuit on his out lap in the final part of qualifying. The incident brought out the red flags for a second time.
Williams driver Valtteri Bottas provided one of the surprises of the session as he grabbed fourth spot ahead of the rapidly improving Lotus of Romain Grosjean.
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Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen will line up in sixth ahead of his double world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso, who was unable to perform in front of his home crowd.
Jenson Button was eighth fastest ahead of Felipe Massa, who posted a time only good enough for ninth.
Force India endured their worst qualifying of the season as Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez failed to secure a spot in Q3. The pair will start from 11th and 12th positions respectively.
Pastor Maldonado brought out the red flags in Q1 after losing control of his Lotus at turn 3. The E22 made contact with a concrete wall which ended his qualifying session prematurely.
He joined Adrian Sutil, Max Chilton, Jules Bianchi, Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson on the list of drivers who bowed out in Q1.
Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne will start from the back of the grid after receiving a 10 place grid penalty for losing a wheel during Friday Free Practice. The stewards deemed the incident a breach of the safety regulations.
Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m25.232s | |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m25.400s | +0.168s |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1m26.285s | +1.053s |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1m26.632s | +1.400s |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1m26.960s | +1.728s |
| 6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m27.104s | +1.872s |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1m27.140s | +1.908s |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m27.335s | +2.103s |
| 9 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1m27.402s | +2.170s |
| 10 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1m27.602s | Q2 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Merced | 1m27.685s | Q2 |
| 12 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Merced | 1m28.002s | Q2 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1m28.039s | Q2 |
| 14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m28.280s | Q2 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | No Time | Q2 |
| 16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | No Time | Q2 |
| 17 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m28.563s | Q1 |
| 18 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1m29.586s | Q1 |
| 19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1m30.177s | Q1 |
| 20 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1m30.312s | Q1 |
| 21 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1m30.375s | Q1 |
| 22 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | No Time | Q1 |
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