LOn the fast-paced track in Monza, Italy, ewis Hamilton had to admit defeat to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the last second in the battle for the best starting position for the extra sprint points. World Cup rival Max Verstappen could not keep up with the speed of the Silver Arrows. “A mega-lap”, Hamilton attested to the winner of the Formula 1 qualification, which, like at Silverstone, took place this time on Friday. Hamilton missed 96 thousandths of a second on Bottas, who acclaimed his success in the car on his farewell tour – the Finn has to vacate his cockpit after the season. He moves to Alfa Romeo.
World championship leader Verstappen did not come close to the Mercedes duo on his lap on the high-speed course in the Royal Park. The 23-year-old Dutchman, who last won in Belgium and the Netherlands, was 0.411 seconds off Bottas. “We worked out the best,” emphasized Red Bulls Motorsport Director Helmut Marko and was confident.
Especially since Bottas has to start from behind at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday (3 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker on Formula 1 and on Sky). The engine and transmission in his Mercedes had been changed for strategic reasons. However, this is irrelevant for the sprint decision.
Sebastian Vettel did not make it into the top ten in eleventh place in the Aston Martin. “I’m sorry,” the 34-year-old radioed to the pits and was annoyed in his car, which is decorated with the 007 logo because of the upcoming premiere of the new James Bond film at the end of the month. “Maybe I was a bit too conservative,” said the Hessian.
Mick Schumacher came in 18th place in the defeated Haas. “It was quite difficult because the tires no longer had the temperature they should have been,” said the 22-year-old at Sky and was pleased that he was able to stay out of the sometimes dense and chaotic slipstream traffic. “I was always quite alone,” he said.
After the days of the driver announcements for the next year, it went straight to the point of the knockout elimination on Friday after the one-hour training session. As expected, it was quickly over for Mick Schumacher, but the son of record world champion Michael Schumacher left Robert Kubica behind as a replacement for Kimi Raikkonen, who was infected with the corona virus, and once again his teammate Nikita Masepin.
With a strong lap in the last seconds of the first section, Vettel initially climbed out of the red area. In the front, what had previously been indicated in free practice continued: Hamilton, five-time Monza winner, set the pace. For Vettel, who celebrated the first of his 53 Grand Prix victories in the Toro Rosso near Milan in 2008, things stopped after the second qualifying section.
For Bottas it is. It all looked like first place for Hamilton when his rival put down his top lap and pushed Hamilton out. “It’s a good start for the sprint race,” emphasized team boss Toto Wolff, referring to the lead over Red Bull.
With a victory in the sprint qualification, Hamilton can possibly even draw level with Verstappen on points if he should finish fourth at most. There are three points for the first, who will then also be the official pole setter for the Italian race. Two counters are given to the second and one to the third. And in the classification, Hamilton is three points behind Verstappen before the 14th of 22 races of the season. The British defending champion can also make his 100th Grand Prix victory perfect in Monza.
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