Hamilton beats Bottas in strategic Portuguese GP pole fight

Lewis Hamilton emerged on top of a fierce fight for pole position during a thrilling dénouement to qualifying for Formula 1’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

The session at the new-for-2020 Algarve Circuit was delayed by 30 minutes owing to drain repairs and checks that were needed in the wake of a cover working loose in the closing stages of FP3.

When it got underway Bottas initially converted his practice momentum and remained on top through the first Q3 runs on Soft tyres.

Bottas edged Hamilton by just 0.047s but when the Mercedes W11s emerged for their second runs they did so on the Medium tyres.

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Hamilton snatched top spot from Bottas but he was soon demoted by his team-mate, and was then pushed back to third as Soft-shod Max Verstappen slotted in between.

But while Bottas opted for just one timed lap Hamilton completed a second push lap on Mediums and clocked a time of 1:16.652s to usurp the Finn.

It marked Hamilton’s 97th pole position in Formula 1 and preserved Mercedes’ unbeaten record on Saturdays in 2020.

Verstappen wound up in third place as he once more emerged as Mercedes’ primary challenger.

Leclerc excels in qualifying again

Charles Leclerc expressed confidence over Ferrari’s one-lap pace on Friday and the 23-year-old’s buoyancy was validated on Saturday afternoon.

For the third time in four events Leclerc ensured Ferrari’s SF1000 was the third-fastest car as he qualified fourth, within two-tenths of Verstappen.

Leclerc’s lap left him clear of Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Red Bull’s Alexander Albon, who again trailed his Dutch team-mate.

McLaren will take up row four on the grid, with Carlos Sainz in front of Lando Norris, while AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was ninth.

Renault struggles after podium high

Renault finally claimed a Formula 1 podium finish last time out at the Nürburgring but it has had a more problematic weekend in the Algarve.

Its R.S.20 was not as competitive and on the fringes of the Q2/Q3 cut-off time.

Esteban Ocon failed to make it through as he once more trailed team-mate Daniel Ricciardo in a dry qualifying session.

But Ricciardo’s prospects were thwarted when he spun through Turn 11 in the closing stages of Q2 and made light contact with the barriers.

Ricciardo already set a time good enough to scrape into Q3, at the expense of his team-mate, but he was unable to participate in the session as Renault could not undertake rear-end repairs in time.

Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, returning to action after his bout of Covid-19, and AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat were also eliminated in the second session.

Russell makes Q2 – and beats Vettel

Williams’ George Russell starred to make it through Q1 and then set a lap in Q2 that lifted him above Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari kept its drivers on Medium tyres throughout Q2 and while Leclerc made the top 10 shootout Vettel was off the pace of his team-mate.

None of Vettel’s push laps were quick enough to get anywhere near Q3, as the final session eluded him for an eighth straight event, and he dropped to last in the segment.

Russell’s Q1 heroics shuffled Kimi Raikkonen into the drop zone in that session though Formula 1’s most experienced racer still managed to beat Alfa Romeo team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi.

Outgoing Haas duo Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen lacked pace throughout the session and were 18th and 19th respectively.

Sole rookie Nicholas Latifi had a faster time scrubbed off for track limits but it would only have been enough to beat Magnussen had it stood.

Sunday’s 66-lap Portuguese Grand Prix is scheduled for 13:10 local time.