F1: Hamilton is pole-man, Leclerc paw in Portugal

The ups and downs and curves of the Portimao circuit were the scene of an exciting qualifying in view of tomorrow's GP of Portugal, 12 / a test of the Formula 1 World Championship, with Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas dueling until last meter, but the usual, relentless Briton won the 97th pole in his career and ninth season. Charles Leclerc made the most of a growing Ferrari by taking an excellent fourth place, equaling his best result of the season, obtained at Silverstone and the Nuerburgring. Bad on the other hand Sebastian Vettel, who failed to qualify for Q3 and will start far behind tomorrow, with the 15th time. Leclerc will have to get busy at the start - since he will start alongside Max Verstappen, the only one among the top four on the grid to put on soft tires on his Red Bull - but even without illusions he seems confident in view of the race, having had good feedback. from long run tests. "Today I am very happy with the work of the team - said the Ferrari driver -. Always bringing something new, taking small steps makes the difference and today we have had confirmation. But it is only the qualification, tomorrow we get the points. In Germany we have seen that we struggle more in the race. But here it went even better because we entered Q3 with the average, a fact that gives us hope for tomorrow ". Leclerc is better now with the Sf1000: "We are increasing the performance in general. It is not that it is easier to drive, I think the balance is similar, but we are looking for and finding more speed. This is positive, but tomorrow we have to make a nice race and we hope to manage the tires better. The sensations were much more positive this morning ". Very disappointed Vettel, who in Q2 has a bit 'messed with the choice of tires, between soft and medium, ending up being eliminated. "All weekend I struggled a bit with the soft, we hoped that the medium could work well but I couldn't. Tomorrow will be a difficult day starting so far back, but we will try them all." The German also made another bitter consideration regarding the comparison with the young teammate: "There is nothing I can do at the moment. Leclerc is driving at another level. Even if I do a good lap he is even faster ". But Hamilton is enthusiastic about his performance: "I can't say how difficult it was today. It's true, we have a great car but we have to push it to the limit. I insisted and insisted on finding the right performance. I did the three laps to try to beat Bottas' time and that last lap went really well. " The Finn had always set the best times in free practice and also in qualifying 1 and 2, but he then succumbed to the six-time world champion by one tenth, who finished his best lap in 1'16''652. The fight for victory, in the absence of surprises, seems as usual reserved for Mercedes, which could celebrate the seventh constructors' championship in a row tomorrow. Hamilton, in turn, would overtake Michael Schumacher with a win, becoming the most successful driver of all time. (HANDLE).