NÜRBURGRING, Germany: Valtteri Bottas produced a blistering track record on his final qualifying lap on Saturday to edge Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and claim pole position for the Eifel Grand Prix.
Bottas clocked a best lap of one minute and 25.269 seconds to beat the championship leader by two-tenths of a second in very cold conditions following only one practice session after Friday’s running was canceled due to fog.
It was Bottas’s third pole this year and the 14th of his career, a feat that he hopes can help him keep alive his championship challenge. After winning in Russia two weeks ago he lies 44 points behind Hamilton.
The two ‘black arrows’ were pushed all the way by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who lost grip on his final run and wound up third ahead of Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and Alex Albon in the second Red Bull car.
“It is such a nice feeling when you do it on the last lap — my last lap was spot on,” said Bottas.
“It’s been pretty tricky with short practice and these conditions getting the tires in the sweet spot, that was one of the bigger things today.
The chilly autumn weather has shaped practice and qualifying. Friday’s practice sessions were wiped out by fog and rain.
“I believe I can win,” said Bottas. “That’s the only goal for tomorrow and hopefully we can have a good start.”
Both Bottas and Hamilton suggested F1 can do away with Friday practice, condensing race weekends into two days.
“I don’t think we need to be in on Fridays,” said Hamilton. “Currently, in a normal weekend, I feel like there is too much practice,” agreed Bottas.
Hamilton, who needs just one victory to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Grand Prix victories, had to settle for second on the grid.
“Valtteri is two-tenths ahead and he did a good job, so congratulations to him,” he said. “There is plenty of time for me to regain.”
Leclerc surprised himself with his speed to make the second row.
“Since the start of the season, we have struggled to make our tires work whenever it has been cold, but today it just seemed like it worked out for us.
Team-mate Sebastian Vettel qualified 11th after being out-qualified by Leclerc for the eighth consecutive weekend.
“You know, Seb is a four-time champion and I am sure he will come back to where he needs to be.”
Daniel Ricciardo was sixth ahead of his Renault team-mate Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris of McLaren, Sergio Perez of Racing Point and Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren.
Shortly before qualifying, Racing Point announced that Nico Hulkenberg would step in for Lance Stroll who was “unwell.”
Hulkenberg, who covered for Stroll’s teammate Sergio Perez at Silverstone, was called at short notice from a Cologne cafe. After a dash up the autobahn he made it to the track and without any practice, qualified at the back of the grid.
The session began in bright, cold conditions with the air temperature struggling to exceed 10 degrees, but no repeat of the fog and rain that led to the cancelation of both practice sessions on Friday.
Hulkenberg was one of the drivers out early in the session to familiarise himself with Stroll’s settings.
Hamilton soon laid down a marker in Q2 in 1min 26.183sec before Verstappen trimmed that by almost half a second. Albon took third while Bottas slipped to eighth.
On their second Q2 runs, Hamilton regained top spot while Verstappen held off an improved Bottas in third.
In the top ten shootout, Verstappen was fastest on his first run in 1:25.744 ahead of the two Mercedes men, with Bottas topping Hamilton and Albon fourth in the second Red Bull.
Hamilton responded by going quickest but it was not enough to resist Bottas who stormed through to take pole.
’Spot on’ Bottas edges Hamilton to take pole at Eifel GP
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’Spot on’ Bottas edges Hamilton to take pole at Eifel GP
- It was Bottas’s third pole this year and the 14th of his career
Al-Ittihad drop points in Abha as Al-Fateh cruise to fifth consecutive win
- Al-Ittihad’s perfect run of form since the Arab Cup break comes to an end after 1-1 draw against Damac
- Al-Fateh defeat Al-Riyadh 3-1 to extend winning streak to five games
RIYADH: Matchday 15 of the Saudi Pro League continued on Tuesday with three fixtures across three cities. Al-Ittihad shared the spoils with Damac in Abha, Al-Okhdood edged Al-Kholood 1-0 in Najran, while Al-Fateh defeated Al-Riyadh 3-1 in Al-Ahsa.
The result in Abha was a disappointing one for the defending champions. Since their defeat to city rivals Al-Ahli on November 8 of last year, Al-Ittihad had won every match in the league. Damac proved stubborn opposition at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Stadium, which welcomed a vibrant crowd, split — albeit unevenly — between Damac’s red and Al-Ittihad’s black and yellow.
Early signs suggested the visitors were in control. From the outset, the threat of Moussa Diaby stretching the pitch down the right, combined with Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti’s underlapping runs, led Al-Ittihad to what appeared to be an early opener in the 3rd minute.
Al-Shanqeeti, providing the connection between Diaby and Karim Benzema, took advantage of a failed clearance to fire past Damac goalkeeper Kewin. Unfortunately for the visitors, the goal was ruled out, as Diaby failed to keep the ball in play before delivering the cross.
Damac gradually grew into the contest, with their compact 5-4-1 shape limiting the opposition from establishing control. Al-Ittihad resorted to direct balls from deep to exploit space in behind, but the well-drilled Damac defence consistently denied them from the final touch.
The hosts then struck against the run of play. After an accidental intervention by the referee, play resumed with Riyadh Sharahili threading a pass behind the Ittihad centre-backs for Abdullah Al-Qahtani, who finished confidently to open the scoring in the 37th minute.
Sharahili would be involved in a goal at the other end just eight minutes later. The underlapping Al-Shanqeeti runs would come back to bite Damac, as he was spotted by Diaby inside the box, only for Sharahili’s misfired clearance to fall back to him to finish for the equaliser.
Sergio Conceição’s side knew that an early goal in the second half was crucial against a side like Damac. However, Benzema was surprisingly brought off at half-time in favour of Saleh Al-Shehri. Social media footage later suggested the Frenchman had been substituted due to injury.
Al-Shehri provided a different attacking profile, as Al-Ittihad now relied on crosses from Ahmad Al-Julaydan, but Damac defenders Abdulrahman Al-Khaibary and Hassan Rubayyi of Damac’s dealt well with the threat.
Their plan to draw Al-Ittihad forward and strike on the counter nearly paid off late on. In the sixth minute of stoppage time, they found themselves in a three-on-two situation that quickly turned into a one-on-one, only for Abdulrahman Al-Obaid’s effort to crash against the post.
Al-Ittihad’s night ended on a sour note when Fabinho was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Yahya Naji. Despite avoiding defeat, this draw was Al-Ittihad’s seventh game away at Damac without a win.
Elsewhere, Al-Fateh continued their stellar run of form to grab their fifth win on the trot with a 3-1 victory over Al-Riyadh. After spending the first part of the season lingering outside the relegation zone, they now sit 12 points clear in 10th place. In Najran, Al-Kholood fell to a 1-0 defeat against Al-Okhdood, marking their eighth loss in nine matches.
Matchday 15 concludes on Wednesday, with Al-Qadsiah vs. Al-Fayha at 5:45pm, followed by Al-Ahli vs. Al-Taawoun in the battle for second place at 8.30pm alongside Al-Shabab vs. NEOM.
