Lauda: Ferrari 'not as strong' as Mercedes thought

Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda says “Ferrari is not as strong as I thought” after both W06s of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton comfortably locked out the front row of the grid for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.

The German picks up his first pole position since last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and outqualifies the defending champion for the first time in 2015. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finishes third and slighty under 0.8s slower than Saturday's benchmark while team-mate Kimi Raikkonen endured a much tougher session and could only manage P7, more than 1.7s adrift of Rosberg’s table-topping time.

While Vettel had been able to edge out one Mercedes on merit in Bahrain three weeks ago, the gap seems to have grown bigger at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This came as something of a surprise to Lauda, who had expected a stiffer challenge from the Maranello-based team upon Formula One's return to Europe.

“Ferrari is not as strong as I thought,” the triple world champion told Sky Sports right after qualifying. “But the most important thing is that from the front row, we can do a better job.”

Asked if he has spotted something different in Rosberg's demeanour this weekend, Lauda says last year’s runner up has not changed his approach and thinks Saturday’s results might come from Hamilton slightly underperforming.

“(Rosberg) was trying as hard as always before but maybe Lewis this time is a little off the edge, maybe. But I will have to talk to him first.”

Click here for Saturday's gallery from the Spanish Grand Prix

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter