Valtteri Bottas admits beating Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola left him shaking at the conclusion of the session.
The Finn ousted Hamilton for the top spot by less than a tenth of a second, securing his fourth pole position of the 2020 Formula 1 season.
In what is F1’s first visit to Imola in 14 years, the drivers were thrown into qualifying after just a single 90-minute practice session earlier today, leaving them with less preparation than usual for their hot laps.
“There are never easy pole positions,” Bottas said. “I’m really enjoying this track, when you push flat out it’s beautiful.
“I knew I had to improve in the last lap and found those small gains that we needed.
“It’s a great feeling when you can those and I definitively had the shakes after. It was good fun.
Bottas added that he quickly identified ahead of qualifying where he needed to improve, but doubts that any driver “had a perfect lap with the short amount of practice we had.”
The 31-year-old continued: “I had some issues sometimes in Turn 2, with locking up trying to brake too late.
“Sometimes into the last two corners, the downhill braking, I braked too late and that’s why I lost a bit of momentum coming out of those corners.
“It’s just small things like that and there was no time to waste with braking, which I wasn’t quite comfortable with in places.
“I’m glad I could get there eventually and on the last run you’re certainly not holding back at all – you’re either go for it or go home! I’m glad it was a good enough lap.”
Bottas will start Sunday’s race on the Medium compound, as will team-mate Hamilton.
