GPI 2017 Spanish Grand Prix | Page 206

QUALIFYING REPORT Behind Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, who also had an engine change, though his was done overnight, was fourth ahead of the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. At the back it was a dismal outing for Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat. While team- mate Carlos Sainz managed to end the session in the top 10, Kvyat remained rooted to the foot of the order and was ruled out of further competition in P20. Also eliminated at this stage were Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, Renault’s Jolyon Palmer, Williams’ Lance Stroll and McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne. Hamilton was again to the fore after the first runs in Q2, leading on a time of 1:20.210 ahead of Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen. As the teams prepped for their final runs, the man occupying the final Q3 berth was Fernando Alonso. The McLaren driver was sitting on a time of 1:21.510, but that was just 0.007 ahead of Haas’s Romain Grosjean. Local hero Alonso put in a superb final flyer to find three tenths of a second and as his rivals’ final times came in those fractions became crucial as he rose to P8 and then slid back to P10. In the end, though, he held the place, with just under eight hundredths of a second in hand over Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. Eliminated behind the Dane were Sainz, Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Sauber’s Pascal Wehrlein. Meanwhile Hamilton maintained his grip on P1 after the first runs of Q3.