Lewis Hamilton takes pole on a weekend where he can match Michael Schumacher’s all time win record. However, it was not business as usual as he was almost eliminated in Q2. Max Verstappen will start alongside the Briton and will be looking to make use of the huge run to turn 1 tomorrow. Valtteri Bottas came an unceremonious 3rd, but has a strategy advantage.
Q1
Many cars went into their final runs without a lap time as strict track limit rules deleted several times. A tailwind had appeared and gave a headache to many drivers, who were shocked at how different the track conditions were. Raikkonen had an engine issue on his last lap and finished 20th. Russell had a stunning lap and finished 13th, ahead of both Ferraris. Latifi was less successful and only managed 19th, 1.1s behind his team-mate. Both Haas cars were eliminated and, despite feeling better about his car, Grosjean was only able to finish 16th. Antonio Giovinazzi did well to outpace Magnussen, but could only muster 17th.
Eliminated:
- 16th Grosjean
- 17th Giovinazzi
- 18th Magnussen
- 19th Latifi
- 20th Raikkonen
Q2
There were reports of rain at the track, however there was not enough to change the condition of the track. Hamilton had his first lap rescinded due to track limits, putting a bit of unwanted pressure on the Briton. Bottas also had issues, drifting through the final corner on his flying lap. This left Ricciardo 1st before the final runs of the session took place. But, chaos took over as Vettel had a huge crash on his flying lap. He lost control of his Ferrari out of turn 3 and ripped apart the front right of his car. This bought out the Red flags, and left Hamilton P15, with no time.
With 2:15 left of the session, the cars lined up at the end of the pit lane, and Hamilton was at the very back. The situation was almost a complete reversal of qualifying at Monza. A huge queue of cars, but all were attempting to race as fast as possible to actually start a lap. The Red Bulls managed to race off, but a huge mess of cars now attempted to navigate the grid, on cold tyres. The tyres caught out Hamilton and he went wide at turn 2. Perez and Sainz didn’t make the restart, but Hamilton did by the narrowest of margins. Albon was the first to improve managing to just escape the elimination zone and Hamilton just managed to do the same. However, the two Mercedes will now start on different tyres. A tantalising prospect for tomorrow. However, both Ferraris were eliminated as well as home hero Kvyat and Russell. Stroll was attempting to take the restart, but his car broke down whilst waiting in the pit lane.
Eliminated
- 11th Leclerc
- 12th Kvyat
- 13th Stroll
- 14th Russell
- 15th Vettel
Q3:
Hamilton took provisional pole by 0.7s ahead of Bottas while Verstappen edged out Ricciardo by 0.004. During his final Run, Bottas did not manage to leapfrog his team-mate and Hamilton ended up fastest by 0.652. But, Max Verstappen pulled out an incredible lap to take 2nd away from Bottas and put himself in prime position for an upset tomorrow. Perez managed to get into 3rd, but was relegated by the fast-charging Verstappen. Ricciardo was not able to capitalise on his previous strong performances, but still managed 5th. Sainz and Ocon will line up in 6th and 7th, ahead of Norris in the second McLaren. Gasly continues to impress with 9th while Albon will be disappointed with 10th.
- Hamilton
- Verstappen
- Bottas
- Perez
- Ricciardo
- Sainz
- Ocon
- Norris
- Gasly
- Albon
As long as Verstappen can start cleanly tomorrow, it must be assumed that he will attempt a move into turn 1. But, more importantly, Hamilton will be starting on the soft compound tyre, while the two cars behind will be starting on the mediums. With a huge run to turn 1, and a certain Dutchman alongside, pole position may not have given Hamilton an advantage.
Featured Image Credit: @MercedesAMGF1 Official Twitter
