Austrian GP | 1-2 for Mercedes at the start, Bottas: "I missed this feeling"
Despite a mistake in the very last lap, Valtteri Bottas clinches the first pole position of the 2020 season ahead of Hamilton and Verstappen.
The ‘flying Finn’ (covered in black for this season) had always got a special relationship with the Red Bull Ring circuit: remember the almost-false start back some years ago? Well Valtteri seems to cope well with the tarmac that paves the Styrian track.
BOTTAS: "I missed this feeling after qualifying... the shakes... after pushing the car to the limit!
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2020
"A good result today, but it's tomorrow that matters"#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Nl6tFKYQtS
Right from the beginning he was up there in the timesheets, giving the light of shining to Max Verstappen only in Q1, missing the first place by only 0,087 seconds: the other two sessions were concluded by thin but decisive margins. At tomorrow’s start only 0,012 seconds will gap the two ‘black’ cars. Here are his words:
This feels really good. I missed this feeling – I was shaking after qualifying. It’s something really special to be able to push the car to its limits. We’ve been preparing for this for such a long time now and you never now where you really stand. But our team did such an amazing job, it’s very impressive to see. It’s still very early days, this was only the very first qualifying session of the season, but I’m so impressed by what our team has been able to achieve.
Domination of the Brackley team has been total: despite not been able to get the nose ahead of everyone else, Lewis Hamilton looks to be in a good place; Ferrari’s debacle is a very interesting opportunity in a championship yet unknown on the number of events side. On the other hand, don’t be fooled by Lewis’s words at the cooldown’s (distanced) interview: the Briton will certainly try everything to be in front of teammate at the first breaking point:
HAMILTON: “Great job by @ValtteriBottas. This is a great start to the season… I think we show year on year that we are the best team… we’re a united team and we push together”#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/sZJtElwiSq
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 4, 2020
Great job by Valtteri today and a great start to the season overall for the team. On my last lap in Q3, there was a big puff of dust when I came out in Turn 4 and at first, I didn’t know where the car was that had gotten off the track. But then I managed to see that Valtteri was just about to come back on the track and so fortunately it didn’t really affect my lap; in the end, he kept his position and so did I. This team shows year on year of what it is capable of; we continue to set new standards. I think it’s because we’re open-minded, we’re current with the times. We’re always learning from each other and we’re always pushing the boundaries together. We’re united as a team, there aren’t really any politics within this group, and we push together.
