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Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes
Photo:
Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas starts from first place in the Grand Prix of Emilia-Romagna.
The Finn took the 15th pole position of his career in qualifying in Imola - for Mercedes it was the 13th in the 13th race of the season.
Bottas' team-mate Lewis Hamilton (+0.097 seconds) was second, ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri).
Sebastian Vettel only finished 14th in the Ferrari and thus missed the final qualifying section for the tenth time.
Vettel's fastest lap was subsequently canceled, but more than 13th place would not have been possible even with this time.
A shortened format is being tested in Imola.
The traditional Friday training sessions of two 90 minutes were omitted, the drivers only had one and a half hours on Saturday morning to set up their cars before qualifying.
The racing series last made a guest appearance at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari near Bologna in 2006, so there was a lack of experience.
Of the current drivers, only the Finn Kimi Räikkönen has already contested Formula 1 races in Imola.
Mercedes shouldn't mind that much: If the team scores at least eleven points in the race, the seventh constructors' championship in a row can no longer be taken from them.
Before the 13th round of the season on Sunday (1:10 p.m., live ticker SPIEGEL.de, TV: RTL, Sky), Bottas is already 77 points behind leading world champion Hamilton in the World Cup ranking.
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