Lewis Hamilton has sealed what could turn out to be a crucial pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix after edging out championship rival Sebastian Vettel.
Qualifying: Top 10
Scroll down for report and full qualifying times
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 19.149secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:19.200
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:19.373
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:19.439
5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:19.706
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:20.175
7 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:21.048
8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:21.070
9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:21.232
10 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:21.272
Qualifying report
Lewis Hamilton has sealed what could turn out to be a crucial pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix after edging out championship rival Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton, who secured the 64th pole of his career to move to within one of his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna, finished just 0.051 seconds ahead of Vettel following a frenetic qualifying session at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.
Valtteri Bottas lines up in third for Mercedes with Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen fourth on the grid.
Hamilton, fastest in both Q1 and Q2, appeared on course to seal an easy pole only for Vettel to provide a late charge in the closing moments of the session.
Indeed the four-time champion, who leads Mercedes driver Hamilton in the championship race by 13 points, was marginally quicker than the Briton throughout his final timed run - only to lock a brake in the closing stages and finish second to his rival.
There had been early drama for the 29-year-old German in Q1 - the opening phase of qualifying - after he was told to stop on the track following an apparent fault within his Ferrari car.
Hamilton said: "It is the third-longest run down to turn one of the season so of course it is going to be important to get a good start. Valtteri has had some great starts so I am going to try and follow in his footsteps there.
"Positioning can help a lot and being on the clear side of the grid is usually an advantage so hopefully I can utilise that in comparison to Sebastian.
"It is going to be a tough race when you see how close it is between us. It is a hard race, too, both physically, mentally and for the car and the tyres, but we have prepared in the best way we can and hopefully I have got the car in a much better position than I did in the last race."
Vettel said: "The team did a phenomenal job. We had an issue this morning. We had to change the engine. Normally that is a three-hour job. I don't know how they managed it, but they did it in less than two hours.
"A big thank you to them and also Kimi's crew who helped out. We could have had pole today, so not the ideal end, but if I consider where we were this morning, I think it is a really good recovery."
Fernando Alonso missed the entirety of first practice on Friday after his Honda engine blew up just three corners into his very first lap. But incredibly the 35-year-old Spaniard dragged his McLaren not only into the final phase of qualifying, but then to seventh on the grid for tomorrow's grand prix in front of his home fans.
It marked the first time a McLaren car has progressed to the top-10 shootout this season.
British driver Jolyon Palmer is desperately in need of a strong weekend here after his difficult start to the new season, but the 26-year-old Englishman failed to make his way out of Q1 and will line up only 17th on the grid.
Palmer's Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg has finished in the points at the last two races and comfortably out-qualified him again here. He will start 13th tomorrow.
"I don't know what happened," a bemused Palmer told Sky Sports. "The pace has gone. I was happy yesterday and jumped straight in and feeling good. Today it's just gone.
"I'm quite confused. I didn't do such a horrendous lap but it just wasn't there. We'll work on it. Somewhere in the data there will be an explanation."
Max Verstappen, a winner in Spain last year, qualified fifth ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Hamilton started on pole a year ago but he collided with his former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg on the opening lap.
"It's going to be a tough race tomorrow that's for sure," Hamilton, 32, said. "It is all milliseconds between us.
"It's the third longest run down to turn one so it's going to be important to get a good start. I'm just going to do the best job I can."
Vettel, whose Ferrari team were forced to change his engine on Saturday morning, added: "The team did a phenomenal job.
"We had an issue this morning and we had to change the engine. Normally that's a three-hour job but they did it in under two hours. A big thank you to them.
"Kimi's crew helped out. It was quite funny. One side of the garage had one or two mechanics and the other side was completely crowded, like bees hovering around the car.
"I think we could have had pole today. Not the ideal end, but if I think about where we were this morning it was a really good recovery."
Qualifying times in full
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 19.149secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:19.200
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:19.373
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:19.439
5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:19.706
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:20.175
7 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:21.048
8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:21.070
9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:21.232
10 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:21.272
11 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:21.329
12 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.371
13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:21.397
14 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:21.517
15 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.803
16 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:22.332
17 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:22.401
18 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:22.411
19 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:22.532
20 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:22.746
