Six-time world champion Hamilton has won for the past three years at the Circuit de Catalunya and was quickest in all three phases of qualifying. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Hamilton’s closest challenger in the standings, will start in third place with Sergio Perez lining up fourth for Racing Point on his return after missing two races due to COVID-19.

“Physically it is tough,” Hamilton, who will be making his 150th career front-row start, said of the heat. “It is the fastest we have ever been around here, so the forces through your body are pretty intense. The first lap was decent I guess, which did the job thankfully,” added the Briton, who was 0.059 seconds quicker than Bottas on the soft tyres. His second flying lap was slower than the first timing of one minute 15.584 seconds.

Canadian Lance Stroll will start fifth with Verstappen’s teammate Alexander Albon sixth and the McLaren pairing of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris seventh and eighth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc qualified ninth on another tough afternoon for teammate Sebastian Vettel, who will start 11th. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly completed the top-10. Further back, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen had his best qualifying so far this year, coming 14th.