Ferrari’s surprising move

Sebastian Vettel was ordered to make way for young buck Charles Leclerc in the 11th lap after the pair traded barbs on track while sitting nine seconds behind the Mercedes pair.

Leclerc tried overtaking the four-time champion but was swiftly denied by a savage zig-zag. Martin Brundle described their infighting as “nonsense” before the Scuderia garage instructed Vettel to let his speedier teammate pass into fourth.

Max Verstappen sat in third by the 15th lap, while Valtteri Bottas sat 3.3 seconds behind leader Lewis Hamilton.

First turn madness opens Spanish Grand Prix

A beautiful start from Sebastian Vettel almost saw the German leapfrog both Mercedes drivers through the first turn. The German, starting third on the grid, took a stab at going wide and cutting back in but missed the gap by a hair and was forced into a hasty backflip to avoid a collision with Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas.

Vettel eventually paid for his moment of bravery, which saw him drop down a place to and almost swipe teammate Charles Leclerc.

Hamilton got revenge over pole-sitter Bottas amid the chaos, slotting into first place with a two second gap over his Silver Arrows counterpart.

Another huge Renault blow

Nico Hulkenberg has been slapped with a penalty and will start in the pit lane after his Renault needed an emergency wing replacement.

“It’s going to be a tough afternoon,” Hulkenberg told Sky.

“I’ll do the best I can and push on hard, so we what we get.”

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was the higher qualifying Renault and will start on the fifth row in 10th.

Lewis Hamilton shown up, again

The tides may be changing inside the Mercedes garage as Finnish wheelman Valtteri Bottas continues to upstage Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton has controlled the F1 landscape over the past five seasons as he’s claimed four of the last five titles.

But in 2019 he has had to play second fiddle more often than not as Bottas has left the British superstar in his wake.

Bottas blitzed the field around the Spanish track to secure pole position and did so by out racing Hamilton to the tune of a 0.634s gap.

It makes it the biggest pole-winning margin since Hamilton flew around Spa in August last year and topped Sebastian Vettel by 0.726s.

“I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the adrenaline rush you get from those laps. It has started well, the season. I feel better and better in the car, and I am just looking forward to tomorrow now.”

Bottas’ extraordinary display hands him pole position for the third straight race and former driver Jenson Button couldn’t believe how good it was.

“Absolutely mega. To beat Lewis around this circuit is a phenomenal achievement — and I know, I’ve had him as a teammate for three years,” Button said on Sky Sports.

“Really, really impressive and this will give him so much confidence. This is three qualifying sessions back-to-back that he’s achieved pole, which is pretty awesome.”

Hamilton was plagued by a battery-charge problem ahead of the final qualifying session and

Sky F1’s Paul Di Resta agreed there was work to do for the five-time champion.

“Lewis is just not feeling comfortable. It is a race to turn one here, it is hard to overtake,” Di Resta said.

“Lewis will not give up without a fight but something needs to change for him to get on top.

“We saw it with (Nico) Rosberg a few years ago: once Rosberg got on top of Lewis a little bit he started to look fragile. But Bottas needs to keep up that work, the difference will be from here to the summer break on his championship.”

— with James Galloway, Sky Sports