Marc Priestley has praised a Formula 1 driver chasing their first podium of 2024 after they shone with an ‘absolutely stonking’ lap in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Saturday saw Lando Norris secure only his second-ever pole position in Formula 1 with a lap time just 0.020 seconds faster than Max Verstappen. The McLaren star will start the Spanish GP from P1 on the grid, joining the 24-year-old’s previous pole from the Russian GP of 2021.
The second-row of the Spanish GP grid will also be a Mercedes lock-out with Lewis Hamilton beating George Russell in qualifying for the third time in 2024. Norris and Verstappen will be the only McLaren and Red Bull drivers near the front after their teammates struggled in Q3.
Marc Priestley praises Lewis Hamilton’s Q1-topping lap at the Spanish GP
Q1 saw both Visa Cash App RB plus both Williams drivers bow out with Kevin Magnussen of Haas. But the lap Hamilton produced in the late moments to reach Q2 stunned Priestly, who worked with the Mercedes racer during his 2007 championship-winning season at McLaren.
Priestly also took a moment to praise Nico Hulkenberg after putting his Haas into P12 on the timesheets to reach Q2. But Hamilton impressed Priestly when the Mercedes ace jumped to the top of the Q1 timesheet during qualifying for the Spanish GP with a lap time of 1:12.143.
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Hamilton needed two bites of the cherry to set a lap time strong enough to advance from Q1. The Briton initially trailed the pace that Charles Leclerc set around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya by 0.776 seconds. Yet Hamilton found 0.890 seconds to get praise from Priestley.
“A dramatic closing part to Q1,” Priestley told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Hulkenberg, I thought, was pretty impressive towards the end there. Lewis Hamilton with an absolutely stonking lap.”
Lewis Hamilton is still chasing his first podium of the 2024 F1 season
Hamilton had to attempt two flying laps to make it out of Q1 in qualifying for the Spanish GP after the Mercedes driver’s tepid first go. Even Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly of Alpine set lap times marginally faster than the seven-time drivers’ champion with their initial efforts in Q1.
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It would not have been the first time that Hamilton bowed out of qualifying in Q1 this term, though. He bowed out early at the Chinese GP in P18 after a mistake on his final flying lap in April. Now, Hamilton can fight for his first podium of the year in the Spanish GP this Sunday.
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