Hamilton clinches pole position for the Portuguese Grand Prix!

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24 October 2020 at 15:30
Last update 24 October 2020 at 15:36
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  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Lewis Hamilton has qualified on pole for Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix and will line-up alongside Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas on the front row. The World Championship leader achieves the first F1 pole at Portimao and has now recorded the feat on 29 different circuits, extending his record. Max Verstappen rounds out the top three. 

Hamilton pole position time was 1:16.652, around 0.100 faster than his Mercedes counterpart. Unlike last time out in Germany, Verstappen was unable to split the two Mercedes on the grid.

Charles Leclerc posted a 1:17.090 to jump up to the second-row, while Sergio Perez will start from 5th. 

Most drivers opted for two laps before setting a push lap in the final session. In the first run of Q3, Bottas beat Hamilton by 0.047 seconds to set an early marker. Despite a poor middle sector, Verstappen was only 0.150 seconds behind.

For the final run of Q3, the Mercedes drivers opted to use the medium tyres while Verstappen stuck with the soft tyres. Hamilton improved to a 1:16.934 to take provisional pole, but under pressure Bottas clinched pole position back. That was until Hamilton pulled it out of the bag in the final seconds. 

The session started 30 minutes late due to a faulty drain cover. 

Q1

After a 30 minute delay due to a faulty drain cover, qualifying finally got underway at 2:30 pm local time. Sergio Perez, who last raced at the venue in 2009, set the first timed lap of the session.

On the newly resurfaced asphalt, the soft Pirelli compound needed plenty of attention to get into the ideal working zone. Some drivers opted for two warm-up laps.

After the first run, Kimi Raikkonen was in the drop zone alongside both Williams and Haas drivers. Despite an improved Ferrari, Vettel found himself down in P14. The top three were separated, by just 0.100.

George Russell posted a 1:17.931 on the final lap of the session to escape from Q1 for the seventh time this season. All at the expense of Antonio Giovinazzi. Vettel pushed himself up to P8 on his final lap.

OUT
16th - Raikkonen
17th - Giovinazzi
18th - Grosjean
19th - Magnussen
20th - Latifi

Q2

Only Ferrari and Mercedes opted to use the medium tyres in the first run of Q2. Bottas climbed to the top of the timesheets, but Hamilton only managed a 1:22.923, placing him 13th. On the team radio, the Brit reported that traffic hampered his lap.

Hamilton managed to move up to P2 with a second lap, but Vettel could only manage P14 at the half-way point. Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat and Russell joined him in the drop zone.

Vettel, still using the yellow compound, couldn't improve his time and will start the race from 15th. Despite a spin at turn 11 on the final lap, Daniel Ricciardo scrapped through in P10. At the top, Bottas looked in control.

OUT
11th - Ocon
12th - Stroll
13th - Kvyat
14th - Russell
15th - Vettel