QUALIFYING

“It’s very annoying.” That was Valtteri Bottas’s reaction to losing pole position for the Portuguese Grand Prix to Lewis Hamilton, who topped qualifying for the ninth time in

2020 as Mercedes extended its undefeated season record.

Bottas had topped all three practice sessions and was ahead after the opening runs in Q3 had been completed.

But he was beaten, dealt a devastating blow by Hamilton at the last. And it all came down to one critical decision Mercedes had left up to its individual charges.

The track at the Algarve Circuit had been resurfaced ahead of its unexpected Formula 1 race weekend debut, with the final work on the new asphalt only completed last month. This left the drivers who had been looking forward to tackling the circuit in F1 machinery a tad irked. The new surface was “like an ice rink”, according to Alex Albon.

This had a big impact on how the pack treated their tyres across the weekend. For qualifying, the challenge was getting the rubber up to perfect working temperature.

“That must be one of the highest quantities of laps we’ve ever seen in a dry qualifying session, with cars doing multiple laps, some cars doing prep laps, others fast-slow-fast,” said Dave Robson, head of vehicle performance at Williams.

It was the final approach Robson mentions that got Hamilton pole. But there was another twist: he did so on the medium rubber.

Mercedes had already made it through Q2 on the yellowwalled tyres, giving it a handy, if nervous, advantage over the soft-shod Max Verstappen in the race’s opening stint. But both of the Black Arrows drivers decided to take the medium for their final Q3 efforts because it “actually felt a tiny bit quicker than the soft”, said Bottas.

But as Hamilton headed out with over four minutes of Q3 remaining, Bottas stayed in his garage. Hamilton had time to repeat his Q2 run of two timed laps. The world champion moved ahead with his opening effort, but was eclipsed by Bottas and Verstappen in the following moments. But he still had time. One more lap, one more pole – 97 in total.

“I was just hoping I could have one more lap but obviously didn’t have the fuel,” said Bottas, having felt that the benefit of running lighter outweighed the gains of having two gos on the mediums – the choice Mercedes had given its drivers. “Wrong call from my side and it is annoying for sure, but Lewis did a good job at the end.”

“WRONG CALL FROM MY SIDE AND IT IS ANNOYING FOR SURE, BUT LEWIS DID A GOOD JOB”