Hamilton delighted with strong final lap after "some problems through the practice sessions"

Having secured P5 on the grid for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton stated that the fifth starting position has left him delighted as it confirms the progress he has made with Ferrari's F1 car recently.

Lewis Hamilton complained about his gearbox in FP3 while his team-mate Charles Leclerc looked to be in fine form as he took third in final practice.

Leclerc and Hamilton then did get both cars into the final qualifying segment which was a good first step. However, the Monegasque only had a single set of fresh softs for Q3 which meant that he only ran once, with his effort having been enough for P7 on the grid.

His team-mate was able to have two goes, his second quick enough for fifth which was a good result considering how unhappy he was with his car through the practice sessions.

Reflecting on his qualifying day, Hamilton said that the fifth starting position has left him delighted as it confirms the progress he has made with Ferrari's F1 car recently.

"I think we had some problems through some of the practice sessions with like… a steering wheel issue we had in the second one and also some downforce issue we had in P2, which really kind of… it was 2% of aero performance from the front-end we were missing.

"FP3 wasn’t ideal, but P5 in quali shows the progress we’ve made since the start of the triple-header. The car felt good, so I’m going all in tomorrow, aiming for a podium finish.

"The field’s tight, just a few tenths between the top ten, so it’s going to be a proper fight. There’s still work to do tonight, but we’ll stay focused and make sure we’re ready for the race."

As for his race day hopes, Hamilton signed off: “Ah, it’s going to be close. It’s really close between us all, so I’m going to try and get on the podium for once!”