Hamilton snatches pole position in Portimão

Valtteri Bottas knows the scenario. Unfortunately for him, he has already seen the film too many times. Best time in EL1, EL2, and EL3, the Finn was still ahead Lewis Hamilton in Q1, and in Q2.

The Finn even regained provisional pole position after being briefly pipped by his teammate. But as is often the case, the six-time world champion emerged from his box in the final moments to inflict a first defeat this weekend on his garage neighbor. 

The script for this Q3 was nevertheless quite different compared to usual. Indeed, after a first attempt on softs, the drivers Mercedes came out in mediums for the end of the session.

Bottas chose to only complete one flying lap with less fuel than his teammate, while Hamilton preferred to have one more chance. During his first attempt, he took provisional pole from the Finn, who responded immediately. But there remained one final attempt for the English rider, who finally had the last word for a tenth: 1’16”652 against 1’16”754. 

Behind the Mercedes duo, we find the inevitable Max Verstappen and Red Bull. The fiery Dutchman is getting a little closer to the pace of the Flèches Noires in qualifying. Wearing soft tires, Verstappen finished 0 seconds behind the poleman. 

Charles Leclerc signs a new service of choice on board its Ferrari reworked for the 3rd weekend in a row. The Monegasque indeed lifts his SF1000 to 4th place, ahead of a solid Sergio Pérez whose Racing Point has been in the running since the start of the weekend. 

Alex Albon is in 6th position and takes in its wake the McLaren de Carlos Sainz et Lando Norris. Small disappointment for Pierre Gasly, “only” 9th while the driver Alpha Tauri had finished 4th earlier in the session. Daniel Ricciardo completes the Top 10 after having a scare in Q2 when leaving the track. 

His teammate Esteban Ocon fails at the gates of the first half of the rankings in a discreet weekend for Renault so far. Returning to competition after his withdrawal from the Nürburgring, Lance stroll must settle for 12th fastest, ahead of the AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat.

George Russell impresses again. The pilot Williams, whose future in the team in 2021 is uncertain, sticks more than 8 tenths to his teammate Nicholas latifi to remain undefeated in 33 qualifying sessions and enter Q2 for the 7th time of the season.

Russell is 14th, ahead of a disappointing Sebastian Vettel, which we thought would be a little more lively this weekend. The German will not have been really helped by a curious strategy at Ferrari, the Scuderia sending the quadruple world champion onto the track with mediums in Q2 while the latter is not really confident this year. 

Q1 revealed no surprises, apart from the start of the session being delayed by 30 minutes due to an evacuation plate being separated in Free Practice 3. The elimination of the drivers was noted there. Alfa Romeo, Kimi Räikkönen ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, riders Haas, Romain Grosjean followed by Kevin Magnussen, and the Williams of Latifi. 

After signing the 97th pole position of his career, the 9th this season, Hamilton can beat the victory record of Michael Schumacher, equaled two weeks ago in Germany. A success in Portimão would in fact be synonymous with the 92nd success in the category for the Briton.

How things stand at the end of qualifying!

Just a tenth between the top two #PortugueseGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/iXHoaTxNAw

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 24, 2020