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METERAx Verstappen screamed all his joy. “This feels so good! Excellent! Great,” the Red Bull star cheered on the pit radio and celebrated his third career pole position in Formula 1 as a victory. The Dutchman had every reason to be happy, because he had achieved a real rarity: for the first time this season, third place in the World Championship left the two cars of the world champion Mercedes series behind in qualifying. At the Abu Dhabi circuit, where it is hardly possible to overtake, that could be half the battle.
“That is a good sign for everyone. I’m very satisfied, everything went well, ”said Verstappen, who undermined the good lap times of Valtteri Bottas and the record world champion Lewis Hamilton by a few hundredths in the last time search of the year.
Disappointment at Mercedes
15 times this year, a Mercedes was in first place, only in chaotic qualifying in Turkey was Canadian Lance Stroll “lost” at Racing Point in pole position. However, under normal conditions, the Silver Arrows had previously been unbeatable in hunting time. “Now we have very good opportunities if we did well at the beginning,” said Red Bull motorsports adviser Helmut Marko into the Sky microphone.
However, in Mercedes a little disappointment spread. “We don’t remove 100 percent of the tires. But tomorrow is the day that counts, ”explained Bottas, who continues to fight for second place in the World Cup against Verstappen and who certified team boss Toto Wolff with a“ great performance ”. Pole would still have been extremely important to the Finn – since losing the World Cup to Hamilton, Bottas has been in a performance gap. More recently, rumors surfaced that Mercedes could replace him with George Russell in 2021 despite the contract.
Little trust in Vettel
The week before in Bahrain, he had represented Hamilton, who had suffered from the corona virus, excellently. The “original” was already in good shape after surviving the infection and was “very grateful to be back with the team and to finish this season strong.”
Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, is not very sure about Sunday’s race (2.10 pm on FAZ’s live ticker for Formula 1, as well as on RTL and Sky). The Heppenheimer, who gives his farewell performance at the Ferrari, did not exceed 13th place. The four-time world champion was left without a starting position in the top 10 for the fourteenth time in the seventeenth race of the season.
“I am so happy with my laps. I didn’t have the feeling there was more, ”said the 33-year-old, who is drawn to Aston Martin in the new year after six years at the Scuderia. The former Ferrari hopefuls only made it to the podium once this disappointing season. A second is unlikely to be added on Sunday.
