Valtteri Bottas stole pole position from Lewis Hamilton at the very last chance during qualifying for the Eifel GP. Fast charging Max Verstappen had his best chance to take the first non Mercedes pole position of 2020 but had to settle for 3rd.
Q1:
Nico Hulkenberg was confirmed for Racing Point an hour before Qualifying took place. Even though the other drivers only had one practice session under their belts, the German driver was majorly on the back foot.
Hulkenberg took to the track immediately, attempting to gain as much information as possible. Unfortunately, he was not able to adapt with only 18 minutes track time, and he finished 20th. However, he was only 0.4s off from Q2. The Williams duo were both unable to get out the elimination zone, finishing 17th and 18th. Raikkonen finished 19th, but his team-mate was able to get out of Q1 for the first time in 2020. Grosjean was also eliminated as his final lap time was deleted for track extending.
Eliminated:
- 16th Grosjean
- 17th Russell
- 18th Latifi
- 19th Raikkonen
- 20th Hulkenberg
Q2:
After topping Q1, Verstappen showed himself as a real contender for pole, only finishing 2nd by 0.077. Meanwhile, Bottas looked adrift, half a second behind the pair. Vettel looked set for Q3 but was knocked out at the last moment while his team-mate managed to wrestle his car to 5th. The German was followed by Gasly and Kvyat who were both hoping for a slightly higher starting position. Meanwhile, Giovinazzi recorded his best qualifying result of the year managing to out perform Magnussen.
- 11th Vettel
- 12th Gasly
- 13th Kvyat
- 14th Giovinazzi
- 15th Magnussen
Q3:
Verstappen showed his intentions by taking provisional pole during his first run. Bottas and Hamilton were both within a tenth, but all 3 times were slower than their efforts in Q2. Hamilton started his last run first and managed to take provisional pole, but this was immediately beaten by Bottas. All eyes then turned to Verstappen who was unable to improve and had to settle for 3rd. His first 2 sectors had been tantalisingly faster, but he lost grip in sector 3, destroying his lap time. Just behind, Leclerc stunned with 4th, just pipping an impressive Albon. Next up were the Renault pair, Ricciardo ahead of Ocon appearing to have won the tight midfield battle. Norris, Perez and Sainz rounded out the top 10 and will be looking for points tomorrow.
- Bottas
- Hamilton
- Verstappen
- Leclerc
- Albon
- Ricciardo
- Ocon
- Norris
- Perez
- Sainz
Overtaking isn’t difficult at the Nurburgring. With colder weather predicted tomorrow, as well as possibly rain, this qualifying result could lead to a superb race.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
