Pirelli, Hembery: “We expect a two-stop strategy”

Lewis Hamilton took his third pole position of the season on a circuit, the Spanish one, which puts a lot of stress on the tyres. Hamilton has done his time on the P Zero Yellow soft, nominated for this weekend with the P Zero White medium and the P Zero Orange hard. Only Force India did not exclusively use the soft tires in qualifying, with Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez on track on the hard tires at the start of Q1.

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “There is certainly a lot to be said about these qualifications. Pole was over 2.6 seconds quicker than last year, confirming the pattern seen in every session in Barcelona. All this suggests an entertaining battle tomorrow. We expect that in the race the majority of drivers will opt for two stops, although there will probably be some who will go for three."

Race strategy: The three stops are in theory the fastest solution for the 66 laps of the Spanish Grand Prix, but whoever chooses it towards the end of the race will have to pass those who stopped twice. In practice, most drivers will opt for the two stops: starting on the soft, soft again on lap 20, then medium on lap 40. Those on three stops might start on the soft, then soft again on laps 16 and 33, finally medium on lap 49.