Silverstone: Valtteri Bottas beat his Mercedes teammate and world championship leader Lewis Hamilton by the narrowest margin on Saturday to achieve a spectacular pole position for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
The Finn finished a fastest lap in 1:25,154 to beat the six-time world champion in just 0.063 seconds in the final seconds of a thrilling qualifying session.
It was the Mercedes team’s 67th front row lockout.
“It feels good,” said Bottas, who achieved the 13th pole of his career 48 hours after signing a new contract to stay at Mercedes next season.
He added: “We’ve made progress in setting up and driving the car since last week. Mentally, when you start from pole, you can aspire to win the race, and the starting point is good! It’s great to drive this amazing car.
Hamilton explained his “slip” to the place of the moment.
“I wasn’t so wonderful, but Valtteri did a wonderful job and deserves the pole.”
Nico Hulkenberg, who repositions coronavirus victim Sergio Perez with the Racing Point team, finished third, securing his position with impressive functionality just 10 days after receiving an expired call while dining a cake at a café in Cologne.
“It’s been a crazy last week,” he said.
“Q2 was tricky and I made life hard for myself — and it is definitely going to hurt tomorrow, not having had the experience last week.”
He failed to kick off the British Grand Prix last Sunday on the circuit after an engine problem.
Max Verstappen placed fourth for Red Bull, lead daniel Ricciardo of Renault, Lance Stroll in Force India, Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri and Charles Leclerc in eighth position in the leading Ferrari.
Alex Albon ninth at the time Red Bull and Lando Norris tenth for McLaren.
After two days of political intrigue surrounding the Racing Point copy scandal, it was a relief for many when Q1 began with a first Haas circular by Kevin Magnussen to identify the brand.
In windy and cooler-to-Friday situations, the air temperature 27 degrees and the track 44 degrees when Hulkenberg, Hamilton and Verstappen took the lead before the “black arrow” guys discovered their rhythm.
Daniil Kvyat leaves for Stowe on his Alpha Tauri, Magnussen, Williams rookie Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi’s two Alfa Romeos and Kimi Rainenkko.
“Anything broke on the floor,” Kvyat said, after hitting Chapel’s sidewalks before returning.
Bottas then threw a glove at the start of the Q2 with a lap in 1:25,785, more than 4 tenths faster than Hamilton in the second, while Ferrari split with Leclerc fourth and the unfortunate Sebastian Vettel suffering in eleventh.
In what gave the impression of being an act of despair, Ferrari sent Vettel on soft to secure a position in the ten most sensitive in the aftermath when Hulkenberg moved to the moment and separated the Mercedes, but the movement of the Italians failed, with the four-time champion calling a dreary 12th.
This meant that the German retired with Esteban Ocon of Renault, Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Romain Grosjean de Haas and George Russell of Williams.
“P2, you’re safe,” Hulkenberg said. “Wooh! Jeepers,” he replied.
Red Bull surprised many by putting Verstappen in the “difficult” of his last round, in which he was ninth, meaning they will start Sunday’s race with the most durable gum and have tactical flexibility.
Norris, who leads Sainz 4-1 in his qualifying break within the team, was the first to emerge in Q3 in the softs, while he, Red Bulls and Ricciardo chose the media.
However, it is not surprising that Hamilton set the tone in his first race in 1: 25,284, a tenth faster than Bottas, with Ricciardo taking third place ahead of Hulkenberg before, after more discussions about the tyres, the last laps of the flight with Mercedes in duel by pole.
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