BOTTAS ON POLE IN PORTUGAL
Valtteri Bottas will lead an all Mercedes front row while Daniel Ricciardo was left disappointed after qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix.
The Finn took full advantage of his soft tyre run in Q3 to claim his first pole position of the year, just edging out teammate Lewis Hamilton.
The pair completed their fast laps on the softer compound with their first run in the final segment of qualifying. They both returned to the track for one final run on the medium compound, but neither would be able to better their times.
Red Bull locked out the second row of the grid but failed to mount a proper challenge to the Mercedes duo.
Max Verstappen’s first lap in Q3 was deleted after snap oversteer saw the Dutchman exceed track limits heading onto the back straight. While his second attempt, which was good enough for third on the grid, was compromised by traffic.
Sergio Perez recovered from a spin and excursion through the gravel trap in Q1, to slot himself into fourth on the grid.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz out-qualified his teammate for the first time, setting the fifth fastest time.
Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lando Norris (McLaren), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) and Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) rounded out the top ten.
Williams’ George Russell was the best of those who failed to progress into the final segment of qualifying and will start from 11th.
Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo).
The shock of qualifying was Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) failing to progress out of Q1. Traffic inhibited the Australian on his first flying lap, but it was a mistake in the final sector during his second attempt that saw him miss out on a spot in Q2. He will start from 16th.
Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) also dropped out at the end of Q1 ahead of Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and the two Haas’s of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
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