Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were fourth and fifth fastest respectively in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit, at the end of an extremely close session in which the two Scuderia Ferrari HP drivers were in contention for the top positions right up to the final moments.

Charles and Lewis began on Medium tyres, with the aim of saving a set of Soft tyres for the race, comfortably making it through the first phase with almost identical times. In Q2, both switched to Softs and progressively went quicker, making it through to the decisive phase without any problems. For Q3, both had two sets of new Softs available. On their first attempt, Hamilton stopped the clocks in 1'32"079, provisionally quickest, while Leclerc's 1'32"285, was good enough for fourth. On their second and final flying laps they both improved, Lewis getting down to 1'32"013 and Charles to 1'32"019. However, others also went quicker, meaning the two Ferraris finished fourth and fifth.

Lewis and Charles will therefore start tomorrow's race from the second and third rows respectively, in a race that looks like being unpredictable. At a circuit that's new for everyone, with the track surface in constant evolution, the data from Friday's limited long runs may not be entirely representative. This evening, the team will work on preparing for as many scenarios as possible to be ready to grab any opportunity that comes it's way tomorrow.

Lewis Hamilton: Although the session didn't quite end with the result we wanted, it was a solid performance overall.

The car felt good throughout. My first lap in Q3 was strong, but it didn't quite come together on the final run, which cost us a few positions.

P4 isn't where I think we could have been, but there are positives to take from the session.

It's a great circuit to drive, and tomorrow will be about consistency and tyre management. Degradation could be a key factor, so the focus will be on executing well and making the most of every opportunity in the race.

Charles Leclerc: "It's an interesting track to drive on. There may have been a bit of margin for extracting more, but all in all, it was quite a good lap.

There aren't many spots where overtaking is possible here, so we will see how the race unfolds and try to take any opportunity we have to get ahead.

Fred Vasseur: When you are P1 after the first run in Q3, for sure you are targeting pole. I think Lewis made a small mistake at the start of his last flying lap and left around a tenth and a half in the first sector. Charles did a good lap and improved massively through Turns 5 and 6, but with such small gaps between the cars, it was not enough to do better than fifth.

Now let's focus on tomorrow: the data from long runs on Friday might not be fully representative, as no one really focused on this and the track is still evolving very quickly. From today's F2 and F3 races, it's clear that overtaking is extremely difficult on this track but we also know the race could be chaotic, so we need to be ready to take every opportunity, whether that comes from a VSC, a Safety Car or even a red flag.