Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
\nThe 36-year-old Mercedes driver was already the record holder by a massive margin, with retired Ferrari great and fellow seven-times champion Michael Schum\u00adacher second on the list with 68. Hamilton\u2019s childhood hero, the late Ayrton Senna, is in third place with 65, then comes Sebastian Vettel on 57 with Jim Clark and Alain Prost on 33 apiece.
\nRed Bull\u2019s Max Verstappen qualified on the front row alongside the championship-leading Briton, who has an eight- point lead over the Dutch driver, with Valtteri Bottas qualifying third for Mercedes.
\n\u201cI feel very humble and very grateful. I\u2019m ecstatic, like it\u2019s my first,\u201d said Hamilton after the session at Barcelona\u2019s Circuit de Catalunya.
\nThe pole continued a remarkable run of Mercedes domination in Spain, with the champions on pole in every race at the circuit since now-retired Nico Rosberg began the sequence in 2013.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t believe we\u2019re at 100 and it\u2019s down to the men and women back at the factory who are continuously raising the bar and never giving up,\u201d said Hamilton, who will be chasing a record-extending 98th career win on Sunday.
\n\u201cThe support that I have, it\u2019s a dream for me to work with these guys and the journey that we have been on has been immense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton, who took his first pole with McLaren in 2007, had set the fastest time of one minute 16.741 seconds with his first flying lap of the final phase and was unable to improve on it with his second.<\/p>\n
It had looked like the 36-year-old had been slowed by Mexican Sergio Perez spinning his Red Bull ahead but there were no yellow warning flags.<\/p>\n
Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc qualified fourth with Esteban Ocon fifth on the grid for Alpine ahead of Ferrari\u2019s Spaniard Carlos Sainz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton became the first Formula One driver to take 100 pole positions after lapping fastest in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday. The 36-year-old Mercedes driver was already the record holder by a massive margin, with retired Ferrari great and fellow seven-times champion Michael Schum\u00adacher second on the list with 68. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n