F1 Spanish GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying
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Perez puts in a purple first sector but the lap rather gets away from him with a couple of twitchy moments so he fades to P5 with a 1m17.036s, just ahead of Racing Point team-mate Stroll.
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Sainz, at his home race but with no home fans, goes P4 for McLaren with a 1m16.876s ahead of Leclerc who is in P5 now.
Top 10 midway through Q2: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Sainz, Leclerc, Perez, Stroll, Norris, Albon, Ricciardo. As things stand Vettel, Ocon, Gasly, Kvyat and Raikkonen will be dropping out.
It is the calm before the end-of-Q2 storm. Can you feel the tension building?
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None of the drivers are coming back out on medium tyres, while Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen are staying put in the pits for now, meaning nobody is gambling on their race strategy - yet.
Super slow preparation laps from the drivers to preserve their soft tyres. So slow that the timing screen says Stroll has stopped on track! He hasn't, don't worry.
Checkered flag
It is the end of Q2 and here come the final laps of the session.
Gasly, the penultimate runner in the F1 car snake, jumps up to P5 which denies Vettel a spot in Q3!
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Out in Q2: Vettel, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Ocon.
Vettel missed out on 10th place and the final Q3 spot by 0.002s to Norris. How is your luck, Sebastian!
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Vettel was two-tenths slower than Ferrari team-mate Leclerc, who was P8 in that session, so the changes are closing the gap but not enough for the German. It is the third time this year he will start a race from P11.
Green flag
Right, Q3 here we go! Stroll and Perez are already at the pit exit to get their session underway.
In Q3: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Stroll, Sainz, Perez, Gasly, Leclerc, Albon and Norris.
First times of the pole position shootout session coming up...
Stopwatch
Bottas puts in a 1m15.643s to take provisional pole...
Stopwatch
But he is beaten by Hamilton who takes provisional pole off Bottas with a 1m15.584s. Verstappen is in P3 ahead of Perez and Stroll with Norris in P6.
So 0.059s splits Hamilton from Bottas. As expected there is a massive gap to Verstappen in third place, who is seven-tenths off Hamilton. But with this weekend set to be the last time we see 'party modes' in F1 qualifying, how much could that gap shrink by the next time we go qualifying at Spa?
Here we go again. Final runs in Q3 time. Advantage Hamilton but can Bottas strike back late on and how will the rest of the grid shake out?
Leclerc heads the F1 car snake this time with Albon behind him, and then it is Bottas in front of Hamilton.
Checkered flag
Bottas has a strong middle sector, but the final sector gets away from him - that hands Hamilton pole position before he crosses the line!
Verstappen holds on to third place with Perez failing to beat him for Racing Point. Stroll takes fifth place ahead of Albon.
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Q3 qualifying results: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Stroll, Albon, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Gasly.
Muted celebrations from Hamilton for yet another F1 pole position. He'll know the true challenge comes tomorrow and the long sprint to the first corner with Bottas and company behind him.
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Bottas: "I knew it was going to be close with Lewis as always. All day today I have been struggling in sector three, it has been getting better and better but not enough. I think the start will be the best opportunity for me, that's the best chance. I'll try to get their first - trust me."
Hamilton: "I couldn't go quicker on my second lap which I thought I could but the first lap was a good job thankfully. I was here with the guys until 10pm last night looking at the details and how to improve as the Red Bull guys are super fast."
Hamilton on the start: "There is such a long way down to Turn 1 here so the job is not done. It is very hard to follow here."
Verstappen on his P3 in qualifying: "This is the maximum we can do at the moment and I think overall this weekend we have been P3. I hope we can be closer in the race and yesterday on the long runs it didn't seem too bad, so tomorrow is a different day again."
F1 pole position number 92 for Hamilton, his fourth pole of the season and another all-Mercedes front row. No major shocks but with Verstappen in third place it sets up the race nicely.
Here's the full report on qualifying for the Spanish GP for your reading pleasure: 
That's it for now until the pre-race build-up, with the Spanish GP starting at 14:10 BST (15:10 local time) tomorrow. Ciao for now!
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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