No Lewis century as Bottas takes pole
Valtteri Bottas denied Lewis Hamilton his 100th pole position after beating his teammate to top spot for today’s Portuguese Grand Prix by just seven thousandths of a second.
The Mercedes drivers locked out the front row of the grid for the third round of the season, with Hamilton’s championship rival, Max Verstappen, a disappointing third for Red Bull, fourth tenths off the pace.
Sergio Perez finished fourth in the other Red Bull with British driver Lando Norris seventh in his McLaren.
Hamilton was bidding to become the first F1 driver to reach three figures, but his wait will go on for at least another week after Bottas spoiled the world champion’s party.
Hamilton finished his first run behind his team-mate and ahead of his final attempt he ditched the softest rubber for the medium tyre.
But the Briton was unable to improve on his time and was forced to settle for second.
“It is a good feeling to be on pole,” said Bottas. “It feels like it has been a while.
“It has been a weak point for me in the first two races but being on pole puts me in a good position for tomorrow.”
Hamilton said: “It was a great job by Valtteri and for us as a team. We have to be happy with that. It was not the perfect lap but I gave it everything.”
Elsewhere, George Russell qualified 11th, his best result for Williams.
The young British driver continues to come of age and he finished just 0.057 sec shy of making it through to Q3. Just imagine what he might be able to do in a Mercedes.