F1 | Sakhir GP | Bottas takes pole from Russell by 0.026s
In the absence of Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas led a Mercedes charge, scoring the 10th pole position of his career ahead of Russell and Verstappen.
( palabras)
After the crazy events of the first leg at Manama, the F1 circus stayed at the Sakhir circuit, using this time, the 3.543 kilometers-long outer track in a night session event. George Russell led the debates during the first two practice sessions on Friday, but Max Verstappen claimed the top of the leaderboard in the last practice session held in the declining sunlight Saturday.
With the short track, and the top-4 held within 3 tenths of a second, the pole position looked pretty much everyone’s to grab, with all eyes on George Russell, as to know if he would maintain his clean sweep in qualifying while driving the coveted W11.
Q1
Carlos Sainz was the only driver to try the hard compound at the beginning of the session, while all other drivers wore either the medium or the soft tyres. With the race direction having updated the limits of the track, Norris got his time deleted for exceeding the said limits at Turn 8.
with five minutes before the end of Q1, the Williams' driver Jack Aitken was standing in P15. Unfortunately, he slowly dropped in the standing as the session went. At the front, Bottas topped the session with a 0:53.904 time on softs, 0.133 seconds ahead of Verstappen and Russell.
Eliminated: Magnussen Latifi, Aitken, Raikkonen, Fittipaldi
CLASSIFICATION (Q1)
Bottas on top, as Albon squeezes into Q2 by less than a tenth 🤏#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Q5BW9MzCUs
Q2
The Mercedes’, Red Bull’s and Ferrari’s drivers started their first stint on a set of mediums, with the rest of the field starting on softs. Carlos Sainz set the first mark, while the Mercedes went on top, only 0.016 seconds separating them, Bottas marginally ahead of Russell. Sergio Perez went 0.016 seconds quicker than Bottas, but on a set of softs.
With their tyres gamble, the Ferrari looked at risk, as they were standing 12th and 13th, with 5 minutes to the clock. Ultimately, Leclerc clocked a time good enough for P6, Norris had to abort his final run, while Verstappen went fastest, ahead of Perez and Bottas.
Eliminated: Ocon, Albon, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Norris
CLASSIFICATION (Q2)
Short laps, tiny margins! How close was THAT session?#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/nz41sLgoHv
Q3
The drivers went for the last qualifying segment with the soft rubber. All of them, but Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat, the Alpha Tauri’s drivers. Verstappen took the provisional pole, clocking a 53.591 seconds, with Charles Leclerc in P2. The latter sounded pretty pleased with his lap, as he commented: "It was really good. It was really good!”
LEC: "It was really good. It was really good!”
Leclerc posts a mega lap to momentarily go P2 - he's now watching from the pit wall! 📺#BahrainGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/qBAl9uzt8h
The two Mercedes drivers were separated by Perez, with Bottas in P3 and Russell in P5. Sainz commented on the radio that he thought Russell gave him a tow, as he gave him one earlier in the session. The two Mercedes went again for a flying lap, and placed their cars on the provisional front row, Bottas 0.142 seconds ahead of Russell.
For the ultimate shot at the pole position, Valtteri went quickest, with Russell securing a front row for Mercedes, only 0.026 seconds behind the Finn. Verstappen completed the top-3 finishers.
Almost nothing in it at the top 😱#SakhirGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/hdAkmvxvms
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 5, 2020
