F1: Lewis Hamilton Seizes Spainish Grand Prix Pole

Lewis Hamilton prolonged his dominant streak after tallying his 35th career pole – fifth of the young season – following Saturday’s qualifying session, which assembled the starting lineup for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Hamilton, 29, posted the quick-lap during the concluding seconds allowing him to surpass Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, and ultimately capture the pole position.

“I didn’t know whether I’d be able to get it but right at the end I just had to eke out absolutely everything and more from the car,” Hamilton explained after climbing from his machine about the last-second pole-seizing lap.

“To have the kind of performance we have, I have never really known that before. I’m overwhelmed, so happy.”

Hamilton will be linked with Rosberg on the front row, marking the second time these two superstars have occupied the top starting positions.

“For me, it’s very disappointing,” Rosberg commented following the second-place qualifying effort. “I don’t particularly enjoy coming second to Lewis. In the end, it was a good lap. Lewis just did a better job.”

Daniel Riccardo recorded his second-best starting position this season; he qualified third continuing his solid production in his debut year with Red Bull Racing.

“We’ve made improvements this weekend, but so have Mercedes,” Riccardo expressed once qualifying concluded. “We’re a clear third today and that’s not bad, but we want to be closer to the top two.”

Riccardo’s teammate, Sebastian Vettel, retired from qualifying after advancing to session three due to losing second gear while exiting the garage area.

“It was clear there was a problem, but I still had third gear and above so I thought I’d try without second gear,” Vettel explained about the issues that disallowed him from contending for the pole position. “But by turn one, I’d lost all the other gears.”

“I was getting in a rhythm and I thought I could be shooting for (third). I think we have that in the car, but we never got that far.”

The Spanish Grand Prix fires up engines on Sunday at 8:00 PM EST; follow @OnPitRoad_ on Twitter for the entire updates of the event.