Bottas snatches pole position in Shanghai

We were expecting a Homeric duel between Mercedes et Ferrari : we will have had a new demonstration of force from the silver house and a splendid internal struggle opposing Valtteri Bottas à Lewis Hamilton.

Accumulating 0 behind the Finn before his last attempt, the Briton seemed able to steal the best time from his neighbor in the garage but the leader of the world championship was able to extract even more performance during his final flying lap. In the end, only 007 thousandths separate the two Silver Arrows.

The Ferraris are pushed back by more than three tenths, Sebastian Vettel before Charles Leclerc of 17 thousandths. The third line will be 100% Red Bull with Max Verstappen before Pierre Gasly, entered Q3 for the first time this season. Surprised in traffic, the two men were however unable to complete a second timed lap during the last phase of qualifying. 

Note that the Top 5 will start on medium tires, while Gasly's RB15 will be shod with soft tires. Relief at Renault with the first appearance in Q3 of the year and this is double since Daniel Ricciardo qualifies 7th and ahead of his teammate Nico Hulkenberg just 0''004. The Haas de Kevin Magnussen et Romain Grosjean will start 9th and 10th without having signed a timed lap in Q3 either.

At the end of a still tight Q2 in the middle of the field, Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) goes by the wayside for 22 small thousandths. The Russian is accompanied in the cart by Sergio Pérez (Racing Point), Kimi Räikkönen, who experienced a loss of engine power on his Alfa during his last flying lap, and the two McLaren de Carlos Sainz et Lando Norris, yet dashing in free practice.  

For the third time in as many weekends this season, Lance stroll fails to extricate his Racing Point from Q1. For the first time this season, however, the Williams will not occupy the last row of the grid. 

Robert Kubica and George Russell indeed benefit from the non-participation ofAlexander albon (Toro Rosso), consequence of his exit from the track in Free Practice 3, and that of Antonio Giovinazzi, confined in the garage Alfa Romeo while the mechanics were busy around his C38 until the last minutes of the first phase of qualifying.  

Full Classification: Qualifying @MercedesAMGF1 lock out the front row

And how close at @ RenaultF1Team?!? #ChineseGP #Race1000 pic.twitter.com/MOpCcbyC8D

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 13, 2019

Author of the 7th pole position of his career, the first in 2019, and dominant in free practice, can Valtteri Bottas finish the job in the race? Response Sunday from 14:10 p.m. (08:10 a.m. in France) with the start of the Chinese Grand Prix to follow live with commentary via our live text CARhebdo.fr.