Valtteri Bottas has taken pole for the Sahkir Grand Prix, but by the narrowest of margins. Verstappen was not much further behind setting the stage for spectacle in the desert tomorrow.
Q1
Numerous cars took first throughout the first 10 minutes, but Verstappen put his Red Bull 1st before the last runs. Bottas took the fastest time in front of Verstappen and Russell. Only 0.250s separated the top 3, an encouraging sign for the battle for pole.
The gap at the bottom was one of the closest of the season, but it lead to the usual eliminations. Magnussen missed out by less than 0.1s. Latifi outqualified a team-mate for the first time in F1, but Aitken impressed, outqualifying Raikkonen and Fittipaldi. Albon scrapped through in 15th, he was parked in the garage as the flag dropped.
Eliminated:
- 16th Magnussen
- 17th Latifi
- 18th Aitken
- 19th Raikkonen
- 20th Fittipaldi
Q2
Perez set the initial pace ahead of Bottas, Sainz and Russell. However, both Mercedes lapped on the medium tyre. Red Bull were predicted to fall behind, but Verstappen ended the session fastest.
As the cars attempted to escape elimination, Norris suffered a bizarre issue with his release time and fell to 15th. Surprisingly, Albon was not able to match his team-mate and was eliminated. Leclerc stormed to 6th, while Vettel faltered to 13th. Ocon missed a Q3 appearance by less than 0.05s.
Eliminated:
- 11th Ocon
- 12th Albon
- 13th Vettel
- 14th Giovinazzi
- 15th Norris
Q3
Shockingly, Verstappen and Leclerc occupied the front row after the first runs, Bottas and Russell followed. It was all to play for.
Mercedes went out again with 6 minutes to go, appearing to attempt 3 runs for pole. Their second runs took Bottas to 1st and Russell to 2nd, separated by 0.15s.
On the final runs, Bottas was unable to improve, but behind, Russell stormed and was only 0.026 away from his first pole position. Verstappen was not able to match the Mercedes and will finish 3rd, yet again. Leclerc impressed with a solid 4th place, ahead of Perez and an outstanding Kvyat.
All eyes have been on George Russell this weekend and while he may not have gotten pole, he has impressed with a superb drive. Bottas pulled out a solid lap, but his body language during the interviews suggested that this may have not been the result he was looking for.
- Bottas 00:53.377
- Russell + 0.026
- Verstappen +0.056
- Leclerc +0.236
- Perez +0.413
- Kvyat +0.529
- Ricciardo +0.580
- Sainz +0.633
- Gasly +0.777
- Stroll +823
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