[ad_1]
Lewis Hamilton will start from pole position for the third time at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The world champion in a Mercedes won qualifying at Sakhir on Saturday against his Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, in the second row are the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Alexander Albon of Thailand. For Hamilton it was the 98th pole position of his career, the 10th this year, he could still reach 100 this year.
Two weeks after Hamilton claimed his seventh world title, he did not let himself be stopped at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. On the final decisive lap, the Briton was almost three tenths faster than Bottas, while Verstappen was more than four tenths of third place. The Dutchman had set the best time in the third and final free practice three hours before qualifying.
The party didn’t stop him, Hamilton said, but added that he didn’t really celebrate much. “I trained and concentrated on this race. I said to myself: Come on, have fun. It’s important to enjoy what you’re doing, ”said Hamilton. He still hadn’t got everything out of his racing car. “There would have been more inside, but it was a clean lap.”
Team boss Toto Wolff described his drivers’ presentation as a “great day.” Bottas, however, was a bit surprised that he did not have the pole himself. “Actually, everything felt good. I didn’t make any mistakes on the last lap. “
Verstappen sees his skins floating in Sunday’s night race (3.10pm / ORF 1 and Sky), even if he spoke of a decent overall qualifying. “We have a little less grip in the slow corners. They (Mercedes / note) have picked up the pace again, it will be difficult to beat them. ”German Sebastian Vettel, who finished third in the Istanbul Grand Prix two weeks ago, retired early for the twelfth time this season (eleventh). His colleague Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (MON), still a sensational pole man in 2019, was only twelfth.
(WHAT)
Image: Getty
