Leclerc snatches surprising pole after incredible Red Bull imbroglio

It's been a long time since a qualification was so intense in Formula 1. Ingredients ? An urban layout with 23 turns, proximity to the walls, a wet track, drying but not completely, and three cars in the running for pole position. Mix it all together and you will get a crazy Q3, with a conquest of pole position which will have looked like a point blank quest for the best lap in a race on a Grand Prix Sunday! 

Despite an error in his last flying lap, Charles Leclerc miraculously managed to keep his ninth pole position of the year – his eighteenth in his career – to offer himself, as in 2019, a start from the leading position this Sunday, for the Grand Prix. The word miracle is not overused here since the Monegasque was in the stands when he learned the happy news. 

18th pole for Charles Leclerc 

On a track that was only drying out with each lap, he did not imagine for a single second that he would be able to keep his comfortable seat at the top of the timesheet. And then… Checo Perez crossed the line 22 thousandths behind, Lewis Hamilton with 54 thousandths more, then Fernando Alonso with half a second difference. All this then became a two-headed affair with Leclerc or Verstappen, as often this year. The Batavian, who had aborted his penultimate attempt to maintain rubber and temperature, was 9/10th ahead of the driver's time Ferrari after the second sector... and before an explosive radio message from Red Bull. 

Lewis Hamilton came within 54 thousandths of a first pole position this year. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

“Box, Max, box”. The Dutchman, incredulous, does so without understanding why and makes it known on the radio. The Batavian was only two turns away from an eighteenth career pole position, but was not allowed to go for it. No communication has yet been made regarding what looks like a mishap from the Milton Keynes stable, but it is plausible that it is a problem with the quantity of gasoline, an engine running out of fuel leading to effect a disqualification from the session and a start from the back of the grid on Sunday. The Batavian therefore finishes... 8th and will have to try to come back like in Hungary and Belgium, on a track which allows it much less! Note the good sessions achieved by Fernando Alonso, 5th on the grid and who will start ahead of the surprising Lando Norris et Pierre Gasly. Good progress also for Haas, with 9th place in Kevin Magnussen before Yuki tsunoda. 

Ocon eliminated in Q1, Russell in Q2

The big surprise of the session, ultimately, was the elimination of George Russell in Q2. The Briton in fact missed the passage to Q3 by only 6 thousandths of a second and will have to start from 11th place. For his part, Aston Martin rewarded us with a bet full of panache but which did not work. While Stroll et Hag were 8th and 10th in Q2, the two AMR22s returned to the pits five minutes from the end to pass the softs (they were the first to do so, Q1 and Q2 having taken place entirely in Intermediates). However, this was too early and did not pay off. Guanyu-Zhou he will start 15th, and Mick Schumacher 13e.

Big disappointment on the other hand for Esteban Ocon since the Frenchman was eliminated in Q1. The Norman will start 18th on the grid on Sunday, after suffering a brake problem which would have handicapped him on his last lap, while the rest of the peloton only improved on a drying track. Besides the two Williams who finished 19th and 20th, Valtteri Bottas was also trapped in Q1 (16th), when his teammate Guanyu Zhou moved to Q2. The start of the Grand Prix will be given this Sunday at 14 p.m. To be crowned world champion, MAx Verstappen will have to win, hoping that Leclerc does not do better than 8th and that Checo Perez is not on the podium. 

ALSO READ > Leclerc takes pole in Singapore: “It was so tricky!”