WM leader Lewis Hamilton was relieved after his damage control, Mick Schumacher beamed after his best qualifying result. The English Mercedes driver left his rivals for pursuer Max Verstappen behind in the qualification in Istanbul. Due to a previously sealed penalty transfer for an illegal engine change, Hamilton has to roll up the field in eleventh place on Sunday (2 p.m. CEST in the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1 and on RTL). “It won’t be easy to work your way up,” admitted Hamilton on Saturday. “Where there is a will, there is also a way.”
His Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who slipped to the front in second place, benefited from Hamilton’s penalty. Verstappen wants to take the World Cup lead from second place. “I can’t be too disappointed,” said the Dutchman, who had complained the day before about the balance of his car.
Schumacher showed an impressive performance: He is so far ahead on the starting grid than ever before. Schumacher only reached the second qualifying round for the second time in his debut season in the defeated Haas. “Yes”, he shouted over the radio after the first knockout round. After finishing 15th in France in June, Schumacher finished the session in 14th place.
Beaming with joy, Schumacher clapped his mechanics in the pits. “Very happy,” said the 22-year-old on Sky TV. “We worked this out as a team, we made the right decision. We drove out at the right moment with the right tires. “
At Le Castellet, however, Schumacher was unable to start in the second unit after an accident in the first knockout round. “It was different, funny, unfamiliar,” he said of the new experience. “But I like to make it a habit.” Sebastian Vettel only starts from position ten in the Aston Martin. “I didn’t get along so well with the places where it was a bit wet,” said Vettel, who couldn’t find his rhythm.
When does the rain come? That was the stress factor for the Formula 1 teams during the start chase. Hamilton & Co. had to complete the final training on a wet track. Under the difficult conditions, there were numerous lathe operators – from Vettel to Verstappen.
Williams driver George Russell even spun into the gravel, which is why the warm-up even had to be briefly interrupted before qualifying. The Briton, like his car, was undamaged. As the time went on, the track dried out, but the drivers didn’t risk much on the asphalt.
There was no longer any need for restraint in qualifying. Rain was the order of the day, so the pilots quickly tried to do their laps on the treadless, soft tire compounds.
However, the starting place hunters did not have to resort to rain tires during the entire knockout laps. In the last round, Hamilton saved the lead from Bottas and Verstappen. “It is positive that we are starting from pole. The negative thing is that we could have had the front row to ourselves, “said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and said, referring to the race:” The strategy will be the most important thing. “
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