The Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton took another stunning pole position ahead of tomorrow’s French Grand Prix.
Mercedes Continue Dominance
Valtteri Bottas topped the timings after Q2, only for Hamilton to snatch provisional pole by 0.157 seconds.
On his second Q3 run, Bottas went wide through the penultimate corner and ruined his attempt. Subsequently, the Finn conceded pole position to his Mercedes team-mate.
“It’s been super-close between Lewis and I all weekend and there’s only been a few hundredths between us,” Bottas said after qualifying.
“We’ve had a strong car all weekend. There’s a long run into Turn 1, so there’s a chance.”
Hamilton’s pole lap was his 60th for Mercedes and also set a new lap record at Paul Ricard with his time of 1:28.319.
? "Get in there, Lewis!"
Hamilton claims his 86th career pole ???#FrenchGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/BtcAaGDst7
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 22, 2019
“It’s not an easy track,” Hamilton admitted.
“I’m happy I got the potential out of the car… The wind has been picking up, it’s quite gusty.”
More Woes and Worries at Ferrari
Once again, Ferrari failed to build upon Free Practice as Charles Leclerc claimed third. However, he was over half a second behind Bottas.
“Today is the best we could have done,” Leclerc stated.
“A good start will be very important… hopefully tomorrow will be a good race.”
His team-mate Sebastian Vettel abandoned his first Q3 lap after a mistake at Sainte Baume corner caused by a missed upshift.
The German struggled on his only timed lap and could only manage seventh place in his Ferrari.
This consequently left Vettel behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and both McLaren’s.
“Obviously in the end, I didn’t get the best out of the car which is not satisfying,” Vettel explained.
“As I said, it was difficult for me, as some laps were really good and other laps, I don’t know why I didn’t have the grip I seemed to have the runs before.”
McLaren Back in Business
After escaping elimination in Q1, Verstappen held off McLaren’s Lando Norris by only nine thousandths of a second for fourth.
Carlos Sainz Jr. proved McLaren had genuine pace by joining his British team-mate on the third row of the grid.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo will start eighth behind Vettel, while Pierre Gasly struggled once again for Red Bull.
Because of this, the Frenchman will start ninth, alongside the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi in tenth.
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION: @LewisHamilton's 60th pole for Mercedes ?#FrenchGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/robH5jBvIg
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 22, 2019
