Lewis Hamilton is looking forward to his first "proper race" against team-mate Nico Rosberg this season, with the pair starting side-by-side on the front row for the Spanish Grand Prix.
Hamilton hasn't enjoyed the best start to his season. In Australia he started on pole, but a poor start saw him drop behind the two Ferraris and Rosberg before contact pushed him further back. It was a similar story in Bahrain when contact between himself and Valtteri Bottas heavily damaged his car.
Meanwhile in the following two races he was unable to start near the front after two engine failures saw him start last in China and tenth in Russia.
With pole in Spain, the Briton hopes a good start will see him battle his team-mate for the victory.
"That felt great today to finally put the lap together, I’m very very happy," he said. "You always need to put that performance in, it reassures your belief, and Nico had been so fast this weekend, sometimes two tenths quicker, sometimes more.
"I could see on my data where I was losing, so I had to try and figure it out on track, and it is so satisfying to attack that obstacle and get through it.
"I am really grateful to the team for working hard overnight to put the car in the right place for me to fight – and now it’s three poles from three for me when I’ve been able to do the laps in qualifying.
"I haven’t had a proper race with Nico yet this year so I am hoping that will start tomorrow.
"It’s very hard to overtake here, so strategy is important, as is looking after the tyres: the forces round this circuit means it just eats the tyres up, so you need to get that balance just right and see it through to the finish."
