Jenson Button surprised after Red Bull missed pole position

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled for pole position on Saturday afternoon in Spain. Where the Dutchman seemed to have a good chance, it was the Englishman who set the fastest time. That surprised Jenson Button.

Red Bull Racing had an excellent third free practice session with Verstappen setting the fastest time and he seemed to be able to carry this over into qualifying. However, the team failed to do so. Button stated to Sky Sports F1 that he thought Red Bull would pull it together after Q1 and Q2. "Red Bull looked so good and probably Verstappen thinks so too. I don't know if they couldn't quite get the lap together or if Mercedes could just go faster, but it's very close and that's what we love."

Remarkably, almost no driver managed to set a stronger second run. This surprised Button too. "It's been like that all year, it's still pretty unusual. The second runs are usually faster. Maybe the tyres just work like that this year? We saw it in Portimão and now here in Barcelona."

Top five Barcelona

In addition to Hamilton and Verstappen, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon captured a place in the top five. Sergio Perez had to settle for eighth due to a spin in Q3, putting him ahead of the two Ferraris.