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Young Russell by Bottas Zeigt
Valtteri Bottas will start from pole position at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain (Sunday, starting at 4:05 pm, live on RTL and broadcast on TVNOW). The Finn put young George Russell in his place. The substitute for world champion Lewis Hamilton, who had a crown, had put the world runner-up in free practice under a lot of pressure. For Mercedes it is the 78th double pole, for Bottas it is number 16.
Cool Finn is the boss of the desert
Bottas quickly made it clear who the boss is, setting the 53rd first time of the race weekend in Q1, his best time was 53.377 seconds in Q3; no one was faster except Russell, who generally follows Williams and is last in the drivers’ standings. , was very close with +0.026 seconds (equivalent to 1,726 meters!) on the short 3.54 km oval track of the Bahrain International Circuit (the shortest of the season).
There is an overview of all time here.
Bad day for Sebastian Vettel
For Sebastian Vettel, qualifying was once again disappointing. The German did not reach Q3 and will start Sunday from 13th place. His teammate Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, took a solid fourth place and started from the second row.
Vettel can be happy to have been able to start qualifying. In the third training session, the four-time champion had to park his company car because its engine had to be replaced for safety reasons. The mechanics fully accelerated and made the Ferrari fit in time. There is no penalty for Vettel because no new parts were installed in the car, but used parts.
Danner: Great opportunity for Verstappen
Albon does not reach Q3
There was also a huge disappointment for his Verstappen teammate Alex Albon, who missed the jump in Q3 after having made it to Q2 hopefully.
With performances like these, the arguments in favor of the Thai, who has to fight for his driving position at Red Bull, diminish. It is the third time this year that Albon has failed to make it to the third quarter.