Lewis Hamilton takes 100th pole position of Formula 1 career in Spain

Lewis Hamilton has done it again – for the 100th time, to be precise. The seven-time world champion claimed pole position in the Spanish GP on Saturday (May 8), ahead of title rival Max Verstappen and teammate Valtteri Bottas. The pole position saw Hamilton become the first driver to notch up a century of poles. He has held the record for most pole positions since 2017. However, even by Hamilton’s high standards, this remains a special landmark to cross. That he saved his best for the last having been behind Verstappen in practice on Saturday at the Circuit de Catalunya probably made it sweeter.

✨ O N E H U N D R E D ✨@LewisHamilton makes it an incredible century of pole positions in Formula 1!#SpanishGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/jJmw8jTLr2

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 8, 2021

Indeed, Hamilton admitted afterwards that he struggled with understeer due to the changes made to the car. Yet he claimed pole thanks to what he called ‘his cleanest lap’.

“I think we’ve been strong all weekend and I made some changes. I had a bit of anxiety about the changes about the changes we were going to make. for qualifying,” he said.

“You’re always trying to make the car better but it is a bit of a gamble because you have to keep the race in mind also.

“We made the change and immediately I thought ‘this is the wrong one’ and it was my call at the end, but it was really hard.

“So that’s why I was behind the whole qualifying. I was making small tweaks here and there to make pace but the first lap was the best lap of the session – which was great.

“The changes that we made, I had so much understeer, the car was being lazy and wouldn’t turn corners the way I wanted. I was making small adjustments to get the car to turn. It was my cleanest lap and I’ll always remember it.”

Advantage Lewis Hamilton for raceday

Spain has, over the years, been kind to those who qualified on pole. It’s also been one of Hamilton’s favourite venues – he has won at Barcelona for the last five years.

As such, Verstappen admitted afterwards that he was happy to be P2 given the circumstances.

“I struggled in Q1 but we sorted out the balance in Q2 which was good. Q3 both laps were pretty decent, the second run was a little worse. It is quite gusty. Nevertheless second for us is very good today,” he said.

“We know they are hard to beat around here. To be that close we can be happy with that.”

The Mercedes of Bottas will start third, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc is fourth. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon will start the race in fifth, ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari in sixth.

McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo starts on seventh, a vast improvement from Portugal where he was eliminated in Q1. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez starts in eighth.

The McLaren of Lando Norris and Alpine of Fernando Alonso start ninth and tenth, respectively.