08/09/2020 - 8:58
- Clarín.com
- sports
The 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, the fifth round of the Formula 1 season and the second in a row at Silverstone, takes place this Sunday from 10.10 am, with live television on ESPN. The fans of the category await the competition with great anticipation, after the exciting final that the race had seven days ago on the same circuit, with three punctures in the first places on the last lap. And to that is added a change in the forefront , where this time the championship leader was behind his teammate.
Valtteri Bottas showed this Saturday that he is not just a good partner with Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes . The Finn flew into Silverstone and claimed pole position for Sunday's race. The Briton was second, only 63 thousandths, and third place went to the German Nico Hulkenberg who had a great day with Racing Point.
The Scandinavian, who last weekend had a disappointing performance on this same circuit (finished 11th), managed to redeem himself this Saturday: in his last attempt at a fast lap, he covered the 5,891 of the track in 1m25s154, leaving his teammate behind. team and achieved his second pole of the season (he had also achieved it at the Austrian Grand Prix) and the 13th of his career.
“I think we made great strides in the setup since last weekend. I am proud to drive this amazing car. Mentally, when you start from pole, you can only aim to win the race. For that, I will need a good start, ”explained the Finn.
Valtteri Bottas celebrates after taking pole position at Silverstone. (Photo: Bryn Lennon / Reuters)
Much less happy was Hamilton, who had the fastest qualifying time in the last three races, but this time he was relegated to second place at the start. “For me, it was not a perfect last lap. It was not so good, "lamented the six-time world champion.
On the other hand, the one who was left with a pleasant feeling after his work was the German Nico Hulkenberg, who last week had not even been able to start the test due to problems at his Racing Point and this Saturday finished third in the classification, at 928 thousandths of Bottas.
Nico Hulkenberg is interviewed after taking third place in the classification for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix of Formula 1. (Andrew Boyers / AFP)
“This week I felt more prepared. It's a great surprise to be here, but with a big smile on my face. The race is definitely going to hurt tomorrow, but we will do what we can, I will try to learn quickly, "explained the Teuton, who is occupying the second seat of the British team to replace the Mexican Sergio Pérez, who contracted coronavirus.
Behind Hulkenberg were the Dutch Max Verstappen (Red Bull), the Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Renault), the Canadian Lance Stroll (Racing Point), the French Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), the Thai Alexander Albon (Red Bull) and Britain's Lando Norris (McLaren).
Esteban Ocon (Renault) finished in 11th place, but the French driver was penalized three places less at the start for obstructing George Russell (Williams) when the Briton was doing his fastest lap in the first qualifying round.
In this way, the German Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), the Spanish Carlos Sainz (McLaren) and the French Romain Grosjean (Haas) will win a place in Sunday's start, while Ocon will start 14th.
Completing the grid are Russell, Russian Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri), Danish Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Canadian Nicholas Latifi (Williams), Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Finn Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo).
