Valtteri Bottas outpaced his Mercedes teammate and World championship leader Lewis Hamilton by the finest of margins on Saturday to claim a dramatic pole position for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
The Finn clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 25.154 seconds to beat the six-time champion by only 0.063 in the final seconds of an enthralling qualifying session. It was the Mercedes team’s 67th front row lockout.
“It feels good,” said Bottas who was securing the 13th pole of his career, 48 hours after signing a new contract to keep him at Mercedes next season.
Starting grid: 1. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3. Nico Hulkenberg (Racing Point), 4. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 5. Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), 6. Lance Stroll (Racing Point), 7. Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), 8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 9. Alexander Albon (Red Bull), 10. Lando Norris (McLaren), 11. Esteban Ocon (Renault), 12. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), 13. Carlos Sainz (McLaren), 14. Romain Grosjean (Haas), 15. George Russell (Williams), 16. Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri), 17. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 19. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), 20. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo).
