Bottas on front row to complete Mercedes one-twoVerstappen in third for Red Bull, Pérez fourthDelivering with metronomic precision to take pole for the Spanish
Grand Prix,
Lewis Hamilton cycled through the gears with a skill honed over 13 seasons in
Formula One. The world champion at 35 is an elder statesman of the sport now and, after putting in yet another dominant performance in
Barcelona, revealed his touch, his judgment and his knowledge of self have all improved with age, contributing to building what he described as “a completely different machine” to the 22-year-old who made his debut in 2007.
Hamilton’s choice of words was wholly apt. He is F1’s own Terminator in qualifying: fearsome, untouchable, unstoppable. He has four poles from six races this season and took the top spot at the Circuit de Catalunya, with another performance of such inch-perfect precision that little more might be expected were he an automaton running on rails.