The starting grid for the Portuguese Grand Prix will feature a 100% Mercedes front row on Sunday at the Portimao circuit (race at 2:10 p.m.).
On Saturday, under a beautiful sun and in front of a little public in the Algarve, Lewis Hamilton took pole position on the wire ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
This is the 97th pole in the career of the Briton, record holder in the exercise.
The six-time world champion has signed 9 poles in 12 grand prix in 2020, the other three being the work of his Finnish teammate.
The latter (1'16 "754) gave him a hard time, just ahead of the Englishman's last attempt (1'16" 652).
"One of the most difficult circuits on which I have driven"
Lewis Hamilton
“You really had to drive to the limit because Valtteri has been fast in all sessions since the start of the weekend.
I pushed so I could beat him, Hamilton said after the session.
It's a tough circuit where you can't see where you are going.
We see the sky for a while then it's hard to understand where the braking point is.
It's one of the toughest circuits I've driven on with a very strange, very smooth surface that doesn't help the tires perform well.
It makes things complex.
Sometimes the rear tires work and the front tires do not, sometimes the other way around.
The team did an incredible job ”.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull, 1'16 "904) set the 3rd fastest time ahead of an excellent Charles Leclerc (Ferrari, 1'17" 090).
Next come Sergio Perez (Racing Point, 1'17 "223) and the McLarens of Carlos Sainz (1'17" 520) and Lando Norris (1'17 "525). Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri, 1'17" 803) is 9th, a place ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (Renault).
Note that if he wins in the Algarve on Sunday, Hamilton will beat the record for F1 victories that he shares with Michael Schumacher (91 successes).
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