Five things we learnt from Qualifying
F1 News
Today's Qualifying session was fascinating and suggests that tomorrow's race is going to be one to remember. Valtteri Bottas claimed pole and was just 0.06 seconds faster than his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who starts in second place. Charles Leclerc wasn't slow either and could have taken pole had it not been for a poor final sector. Here is what we learnt from qualifying:
1. Mercedes seem to be back to their dominant ways. So far this season they have won all but one Grand Prix and after a slight blip in Austria, it seems that the Silver Arrows are once again going to be the team to beat. Both drivers seem comfortable in their cars and when they turned their engines up in the final stages it was clear that they weren't going to be beaten. It will be interesting to see the two handle tomorrow as, unless something goes wrong, it will be a Mercedes driver that wins the race
2. Bottas is not going to back down. He said after the session how he's "missed the feeling of being on pole." There's no doubt that if he's missed being on pole then he is also going to miss what winning a race feels like. The Finn has a real grit about him and if Hamilton is to beat him it will take some doing. I can't see Bottas being beaten.
3. Sebastian Vettel is past it. The Ferrari driver just looked deflated and depressed after another poor qualifying performance. Something needs to change else I can't see him continuing in the sport. Charles Leclerc is showing him how to drive at the moment and I think the German is starting to realise that he won't win a Championship with Ferrari.
4. Pierre Gasly is on the up. So far this season the Frenchman has failed to get any significant results and has looked uncomfortable in his Red Bull. This weekend, however, things have really improved. The Frenchman topped the timesheet in FP1 and had a good qualifying session, starting the race in 5th place. A good race tomorrow could see an end to all the replacement talk.
5. Silverstone's new surface. A few drivers have complained about the new surface. Max Verstappen said that it was bumpy and today Carlos Sainz blamed it for his lack of grip. This could play a major part in tomorrow's race as tyres could wear more than expected and perhaps impact the results of the race.
Let us know what you learnt from today in the comments.