Bottas takes pole position at Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Valtteri Bottas secured pole position at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Saturday, beating out Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.097 seconds for the top spot.
"Valtteri did a great job, it was a pretty poor lap from myself. These things happen, the track is unbelievable - especially the speed we are going round it," Hamilton said after qualifying.
Bottas claimed the 15th pole of his career with Saturday's performance.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:13.609 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.097 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +0.567 |
| 4 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +0.893 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | +0.911 |
| 6 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull Racing | +0.963 |
| 7 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +1.007 |
| 8 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | +1.087 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +1.205 |
| 10 | Carlos Sainz | McLaren | +1.302 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point | Q2 |
| 12 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | Q2 |
| 13 | George Russell | Williams | Q2 |
| 14 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Q2 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point | Q2 |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Q1 |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Q1 |
| 18 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | Q1 |
| 19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Q1 |
| 20 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | Q1 |
Max Verstappen qualified third after nearly being eliminated in Q2 due to spark-plug issues, but Red Bull's team managed to get his car ready in time for him to record a lap time and advance to Q1.
AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly qualified fourth - equaling his career-best start - while both Racing Points will start Sunday's race outside the top 10.
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