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northLewis Hamilton’s manager, George Russell, was just 26 thousandths of a second away from his first pole position in Formula 1. In the hectic qualifying for the penultimate round of the season in Bahrain, the 22-year-old’s replacement for the world champion was defeated narrowly on Saturday by Finn Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes. . “I’m satisfied, but also a little disappointed because it wasn’t enough,” Russell said. The Brit, who usually sits in the slowest car on the field at Williams, stepped in at Sakhir for Hamilton, who was infected with the corona virus.
“If you had told me that last week, I would not have believed you,” said Russell, who entered the race from the front row for the first time at this Sunday’s Grand Prix (6.10pm CET on the FAZ live ticker for Formula 1, on RTL and Sky) I’ll go. “The future belongs to him,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, praising Briton Russell. For his rival Bottas it was the 16th pole position of his career. Third place went to the Dutchman Max Verstappen at Red Bull.
Sebastian Vettel failed again prematurely. In 13th he missed the last round and was again slower than his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth. “I actually had a good feeling and I don’t know what went wrong,” Vettel said. For the 33-year-old, the workday had already started with bad news. In the last training session, the mechanics discovered a problem with the Ferrari engine, so the power unit had to be replaced in just under three hours before qualifying began. “That shouldn’t have played a role, the guys did a good job,” Hessian said. Like so many times this year, Vettel now has to try to fight his way from midfield.
From a sporting point of view, the penultimate Grand Prix of Sunday’s turbulent emergency season is no longer of decisive importance. Mercedes is already established as the constructors’ world champion, and Hamilton has long since secured his seventh world title. However, due to his illness, the star loses the opportunity to set the record of 13 victories this season. The 35-year-old had won eleven times this year. It remains to be seen if he will be ready for action again in time for the season finale next weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean also has to make a break in Bahrain. The Haas driver was in a serious accident last Sunday when his car broke down in a crash and caught fire. The 34-year-old man survived the terrible accident with burns to the back of his hand and was able to leave the hospital after three days. A thorough investigation of the events should clarify in the coming weeks if Formula 1 needs to take more safety measures.
For Grosjean, Brazilian Pietro Fittipaldi, grandson of two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, will appear for the first time in Sakhir. The 24-year-old did not pass last place in the standings and was therefore also slower than the second rookie. Briton Jack Aitken, Russell’s Williams representative, who was loaned out to Mercedes, returned to the garage in 18th place.
