F1: Hamilton clinches pole position for Spanish GP

Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton on Saturday won the pole position for the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix in one minute, 16.173 seconds.

Hamitlon will share the first row on Sunday with Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, who clocked one minute, 16.213 seconds. reports Efe.

This was the second pole position of the season for Hamilton, a four-time world champion, following the Australian Grand Prix.

The reigning world champ hopes to do better than his last time in the pole position, when he finished second behind Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton, who earned his 74th pole position of his career, leads the drivers' standings with 70 points after four races, four ahead of Vettel, also a four-time world champion.

Ferrari's two drivers are to start Sunday from the second row, as Vettel was third Saturday with a time of one minute, 16.305 seconds, only 0.307 seconds ahead of Finnish teammate Kimi Raikkonen.

Red Bull was the third fastest team in the qualifying, as the Netherland's Max Verstappen and Australia's Daniel Ricciardo came fifth and sixth respectively.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso (McLaren) made it to the final qualifying round for the first time this year, and is set to kick off the race from the eighth spot.

--IANS

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