Hamilton qualifies at #2 while Racing Point’s Nico Hulkenberg completes the front row for Sunday’s 70th Anniversary (of F1) race.
SILVERSTONE, England—August 8th—Putting his foot down on the accelerator and forgetting about the puncture that put him out of the points last weekend, Valtteri Bottas made his last qualifying lap count Saturday afternoon. Bottas posted a 1:25:124 fastest lap to start at the front for Sunday’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix race at Silverstone, England.
Lewis Hamilton, who thought he had grabbed the 92nd pole of his career, ended up finishing second. Nico Hulkenberg, who substituted for Sergio Perez, put his Racing Point entry third–his best qualifying finish in years.
Valtteri Bottas: It feels so good! We made good steps on the set-up from last weekend. That’s why the qualifying performance was better. Amazing car to drive. It’s so quick.
Because of soft tire failures last weekend and high temperatures on the track this week, most drivers chose medium tires to finish up qualifying. But Bottas held all three sessions and–just when many figured Hamilton would change that–the Finn came behind the Briton and edged him by 0.063 seconds. Minutes later, Hulkenberg was able to grab third.
Max Verstappen had to use his last lap to take fourth, finishing just ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. Lance Stroll was sixth in the other Racing Point, while Pierre Gasly finished seventh in the Alpha Tauri. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was eighth.
Red Bull’s Alex Albon and McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top ten as ten other drivers failed on Saturday.
Both Alfa Romeo’s of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen again failed to get out of the opening session, and Nicolas Latifi, Dani Kvyat, and the Haas F1 of Kevin Magnussen also failed to advance. The second session had more names depart, including Esteban Ocon, Sebastian Vettel, Carlos Sainz Jr., George Russell, and Romain Grosjean in the second American Hass F1 car.
Despite Saturday’s success, Bottas knows that the more pressing matter is what happens on Sunday. “Of course, when you are starting from pole, you aim to win. The first job is to get off the line, and the mentality is to win. That’s it.”
