Pole sitter Valtteri Bottas "hit the sweet spot" in final Q3 lap
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Valtteri Bottas stole pole position right at the death of qualifying from his teammate Lewis Hamilton, and the Finn admitted he "hit the sweet spot" in that final, pole-clinching lap.
Ferrari were favourites all weekend long to take pole position, and this hunch was confirmed as the Scuderia dominated Free Practice sessions, with Charles Leclerc topping them. The Monegasque, however, crashed his SF90 at turn 8 during Q2, leaving him out of contention for pole position.
Hamilton had provisional pole for the entirety of Q3, until Bottas swooped in and pipped his teammate by half a tenth of a second.
"It's a nice feeling to get it on the last lap," Bottas reacted to Paul Di Resta on the grid.
"Ferrari have been really strong. Charles [Leclerc] was out by a mistake and as a team, we did a really good job after such a difficult practice.
"It's all about small margins and I got a good tow on the last lap. The corners I had to drive as well but it's fine details and I hit the sweet spot."