Lewis Hamilton got the job done when it mattered in a scintillating Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying session, beating Red Bull’s Sergio Perez by just 0.036s at Imola, with Max Verstappen inside a tenth of a second of the pole in third.
Hamilton had been quiet throughout the Imola weekend but burst into form in Saturday's shootout, with his first Q3 lap - a 1:14.411 - enough to hold off the competition as the seven-time world champion single-handedly carried the fight for Mercedes against F1's charging Bulls.
Hamilton was just 0.035s ahead of Perez, who out-qualified Verstappen on just his second race weekend in the Red Bull.
"I definitely didn't expect us to be ahead of two Red Bulls," said Hamilton. "They have been so quick this weekend."
Perez, who will start on the front row for the first time in his 192-race F1 career, insisted: "I should have been on pole today."
Verstappen finished 0.087s back - beaten fair and square by a team-mate in qualifying for the first time since 2018.
Full Standings:-
| 2021 F1 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING RESULTS - atmtechofficial | ||||||
| POS. | DRIVER | NAT. | TEAM | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m14.955s | 1m14.817s | 1m14.411s |
| 2 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 1m15.395s | 1m14.716s | 1m14.446s |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1m15.109s | 1m14.884s | 1m14.498s |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m15.413s | 1m14.808s | 1m14.740s |
| 5 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1m15.548s | 1m14.297s | 1m14.790s |
| 6 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1m15.669s | 1m15.033s | 1m14.826s |
| 7 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1m15.009s | 1m14.718s | 1m14.875s |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1m14.672s | 1m14.905s | 1m14.898s |
| 9 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1m15.385s | 1m15.117s | 1m15.210s |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m15.522s | 1m15.138s | No time set |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1m15.406s | 1m15.199s | |
| 12 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 1m15.826s | 1m15.261s | |
| 13 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1m15.459s | 1m15.394s | |
| 14 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1m15.653s | 1m15.593s | |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 1m15.832s | 1m15.593s | |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m15.974a | ||
| 17 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen | 1m16.122s | ||
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m16.279s | ||
| 19 | Nikita Mazepin | RUS | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1m16.797s | ||
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda | JPN | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | No time set | ||
0 Comments