The Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring continued to follow the script with another front row lockout for Mercedes, with Valtteri Bottas starting from pole position.
For Bottas, who won the last start at the Russian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton in second and Red Bulls Max Verstappen in third, the form remains strong.
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The Australian Daniel Ricciardo showed a consistent performance. His final lap of flight pushed him to fourth place before being pushed back to sixth place. This was the same position in which he last drove at the Nürburgring in 2013.
He is one of eight drivers who have previously driven on the track. Hamilton, Bottas, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and substitute Racing Point Nico Hülkenberg also have previous experience.
However, he is hoping for a better result than last time he finished 12th for Toro Rosso.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Ricciardo said he was only reminded of his last appearance on the track.
“I was just told the irony is that I remember my last sector and it was really good then,” he said.
“That was actually my worst sector today. If I slow down with age but that’s okay, I’ll find out tomorrow. “
Ricciardo said he felt he had a chance to capture the elusive podium at the Nürburgring as the cold conditions are different from what is common in F1 in October.
It was hardly the most important pole hunt, as the pole sitter has only won three races on the track at the 18 Grands Prix since 1984.
But Ricciardo was a picture of consistency, fifth after the first quarter behind Max Verstappen, Mercedes’ and McLaren’s Lando Norris in fourth before switching from medium to soft tires and fourth behind Verstappen and the Mercedes in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, Ricciardo had a terrible first lap, sitting back in tenth place after going way out of the way. This cost him valuable time and more the two seconds behind Max Verstappen in provisional pole.
However, his flying lap earned him sixth and will compete alongside Alexander Albon from Red Bull.
Ricciardo said he was struggling to stay on the front end early in qualifying.
“Q2 I got the balance right and Q3 I just broke too early thinking I would get a good outcome but I just lost too much,” he said.
“Probably a bit cautious, but if we look at the time we didn’t have two tenths for P4 or 5 so I don’t think it changed the pecking order, but personally I left a bit on the table there.”
Ricciardo outperformed his teammate Esteban Ocon again by just 0.019 seconds.
But it is the 10th time in eleven qualifying tournaments this season that the Aussie has stolen the wood from the 24-year-old Frenchman.
Ocon said the team were “fairly happy” with the qualifying result and was asked if he felt they could fill the gap with Ricciardo.
“It’s a very good benchmark. I have the feeling that sometimes we didn’t put everything together, but today it was more on my side,” he said.
“I have the feeling that there is still something on the table, but it’s good that we’re close in this race. It has been a number of times that this has happened, so I’m pretty happy. “
It was a difficult day for Racing Point as Lance Stroll felt uncomfortable and unable to manage the event when former Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg got back behind the wheel.
He drove instead of Sergio Perez at the beginning of the season when the Mexican was on pause with COVID-19 for two weeks.
Unfortunately, he will start in 20th place after he had to jump in and qualify after not being able to take part in the third practice session, although there has only been one hour of training for the Eifel Grand Prix after wet and wild weather at the weekend.
Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was able to get out of the first quarter for the first time this season and will start from 14th on the grid.
EIFEL GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING RESULTS
Row 1: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Row 2: Max Verstappen, Red Bull – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Row 3: Alexander Albon, Red Bull – Daniel Ricciardo, Renault
Row 4: Esteban Ocon, Renault – Lando Norris, McLaren
Row 5: Sergio Perez, Race Point – Carlos Sainz, McLaren
Row 6: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari – Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
Row 7: Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri – Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo
Row 8: Kevin Magnussen, Haas – Romain Grosjean, Haas
Row 9: George Russell, Williams – Nicholas Latifi, Williams
Row 10: Kimi Räikkönen, Alfa Romeo – Nico Hülkenberg, Racing Point
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