They go into the archive the qualifications for the Spanish GP. There pole position it was contested between 4 teams. A good Mercedes emerges and confirms the excellent performance obtained in Canada. Brackley took over the entire second row up front to the two Ferraris.
The impression is that Mercedes has now solved the aerodynamic problems that gripped the W15, but the race is tomorrow and a good fight is expected between four team as the gaps are really minimal. We remind our kind readers that the Anglo-German team has not introduced any updates other than a revision of the fund in order to reduce its weight.
Spanish GP 2024, how did Mercedes' qualifying go?
Q1 starts differently for the two Three-Pointed Star drivers: Russell manages to get enough lap to qualify for Q2 on the first attempt. Instead his teammate, Hamilton, doesn't set a fast lap and is forced to sacrifice a set of tyres soft to make a second attempt. In the end he gets the fastest performance.
Given what happened in Q1, the seven-time world champion begins the second heat of qualifying with a set of used tyres, but the Catalonia circuit does not allow a second fast lap with the same tyres, so fit a set of tires soft new ones and qualified for Q3 without problems, obtaining the second fastest lap. Russell third.
In Q3 the fight for the starting position is quite close. In the end it is Norris who gets the fastest lap. The two W15s will start together in the second row, above the Ferrari. A rather positive result given the progress of the season. But the points will be won tomorrow and the Maranello team demonstrated, during the race pace simulations, that they have a good pace.
Let's see the reactions of the Mercedes drivers in detail.
Spanish GP 2024, George Russell: “We believed in pole”
“We believed in pole position, the car was good and historically we have always done well here in Barcelona”, begins Russell who hoped to obtain, after Canada, the second pole position in a row.
“I think in the end the gap with Lando and Max was probably bigger than we expected. I don't think Lewis and I had the perfect lap. Obviously we did some good laps, but on a demanding track like this, you have to get the tires into the right operating window and look for those last tenths like Lando did today, unlike us".
![Mercedes GP Spain qualifying](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0921.png)
In fact, during this weekend, Mercedes demonstrated that it can fight for pole position. MWhen you have such a close battle between multiple teams, every little detail makes the difference. Furthermore, given the characteristics of the Montmelò track, each team had to carefully choose the sector in which to push hardest given that it was not possible to go full throttle in every sector, given the severe degradation of the tyres.
“P3 and P4 are really good starting places to fight tomorrow. I think that on a circuit like this, the pace of the car will be essential.", continues Russell.
“At a strategy level, from the point of view of tire consumption, we can invent something, but if you are faster than a tenth, the race pace will always win over the strategy. We will certainly try something but hopefully we have the pace to fight against Max and Lando."
“I think we will have the pace to fight for the win. Thanks to the updates we are back in the fray", concludes Russell.
Spanish GP 2024, Lewis Hamilton: “Tomorrow we will try to win”
“For us to be in this position where we got a third and a fourth place, and where we started to consistently be in the top positions is great. I want to thank everyone at the factory, because it's really credit to everyone who put in the extra hours to make updates, bring new parts, continue to update them.", Lewis begins by thanking all the women and men of Brackley who have worked hard in recent months to resolve the problems related to the aerodynamic part of the W15.
![Mercedes GP Spain qualifying](https://www.formulacritica.it/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_0922.png)
“It's finally becoming more and more fun to drive this car. We're not very far away. I think the real gap is maybe three and a half tenths. Max is particularly fast on long runs, so I think their car is still ahead, as Lando's probably is too."
“In any case, tomorrow we will try to win. We're in a good position and the long runs haven't been too bad, so hopefully that can translate into tomorrow as well. I remain optimistic,” thus concludes the seven-time world champion.
Crediti foto: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team