Qualifying: Hamilton edges Bottas for pole. McLaren and Sainz third

  • Published on 05 Sep 2020 16:06
  • 7
  • By: Coilin Higgins

Lewis Hamilton has taken pole for tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix. Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas will start the race in second, with McLaren's Carlos Sainz qualifying in third.

Charles Leclerc suffered early in Q1 after his first time was deleted for exceeding track limits, while Mercedes led out front on the medium compound tyres.

An incident towards the end of the session saw Esteban Ocon put under investigation after Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen was forced to brake while trying to overtake him.

As a result, Vettel did not make it into Q1, starting tomorrow's race in seventeenth position.

Only two-tenths separated sixth to twelfth after everybody had done their first runs, with McLaren's Lando Norris fearing the second run would get 'messy'.

Sergio Perez qualified in fourth, ahead of the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, while Norris and Daniel Ricciardo will start the race in sixth and seventh.

Leclerc could not get Ferrari into Q3, only managing thirteenth for tomorrow's race. Renault's Ricciardo managed to get through despite a mistake at the second chicane during his second run.

At the beginning of Q3, Hamilton led teammate Bottas by just over a second, while Red Bull's Albon once again had his time deleted once again for running wide at Parabolica.

On their second run, Hamilton once again got ahead of Bottas by 0.7 of a second for pole position, with a time of 1:18.887,

.McLaren's Sainz was best of the rest, pulling off a very quick lap to take third for the team ahead of Racing Point's Perez.

Eighth and ninth went to Lance Stroll and Albon, with Pierre Gasly qualifying in tenth position.

Replies (7)

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  • abhidbgt

    Posts: 283

    Q1 was a disaster but entertaining as hell :D. What were people trying to achieve is beyond comprehension but it keeps the interest of audience. Barest of margin but well done Sainz.

    • + 0
    • Sep 5 2020 - 16:14
  • solid job from McL, but I expect them to drop down as the race progresses. McL do well in quali, but RBH, RP and Renault have stronger race pace, so they'll probably all jump up a bit. Another strong run from ATauri too, could very well scratch up a few points this weekend. Shame on Ferrari for making their drivers look bad.
    And I expect Hammy to take this with little competition from his team mate... who is allowed to race Hammy by the mercy of Wolff....

    • + 0
    • Sep 5 2020 - 17:01
    • siggy74

      Posts: 194

      Dont forget, no altering power modes in the race ;p

      Now its down to the drivers, and tyre wear.... rather than asking for more power to overtake :D

      Going to be entertaining to see Prancing horse teams at the back ;p

      • + 0
      • Sep 5 2020 - 22:01
    • they still can do that, just not quali mode.

      • + 0
      • Sep 6 2020 - 13:21
  • f1ski

    Posts: 726

    I posted Renault getting some engine mapping assistance from MB. Looking like it maybe true.

    • + 0
    • Sep 6 2020 - 01:55
  • f1ski

    Posts: 726

    Hamilton saying in the post qualifying interview "i don't know if we really had a party mode" Well there must have been one all the times he has begged for more power

    • + 0
    • Sep 6 2020 - 02:03
  • Unless Lewis retires or MB withdraws from the sport, noone else will ever win the championships.

    • + 0
    • Sep 6 2020 - 07:42

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