British driver George Russell has narrowly missed out on a dream pole position after being edged for top spot by his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas at the Sakhir Grand Prix.
Key points:
- George Russell says he didn’t believe he could qualify second after his late call-up for Mercedes
- Russell was called in to replace Lewis Hamilton, who missed his first qualifying session since 2006
- Valtteri Bottas took pole, while Max Verstappen is in third and Daniel Ricciardo qualified seventh
Russell, 22, deputising for Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time world champion’s positive COVID-19 test, finished only 0.026 seconds slower than Bottas in qualifying.
Russell improved with his final run under the lights of the Sakhir Circuit, but he could not do enough to usurp the Finn.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will line up in third, just 0.056 sec behind Bottas. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth, while Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo will start from seventh in the grid in his Renault.
Hamilton has dominated this season, winning 11 of the 15 rounds, but his enforced absence here — the first Formula One qualifying session staged without the record-breaking Briton since the season-ending 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix — made for an unpredictable affair.
Russell, a Williams driver by day, was handed a fairy tale call-up after Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff asked him to fill Hamilton’s championship-winning cockpit.
And the young Briton from King’s Lynn in Norfolk impressed, topping both practice sessions on Friday, before only just missing out on pole.
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“It has been incredibly tense with so much to learn and getting used to the car,” Russell said.
“It felt really alien to begin with and it is a different way to drive. I needed to relearn how to drive this car fast.
“I was happy to get through to Q3 after final practice, and if you told me last week I would qualify second, I wouldn’t have believed you.
“Valtteri has pushed Lewis a huge amount in qualifying over the years and we know how great Lewis is, so to be just behind Valtteri with three days preparation, I am pleased.
“I have got nobody in front of me, which I have not experienced for a long time, so it is going to be tricky. I will give it everything I have got.”
The sport is back in Bahrain for a second race in as many weekends but a new configuration of the Sakhir track is being used.
Registering at just 3.5 kilpometres and effectively featuring only six corners, Bottas’s 53.37-second lap was the lowest since Niki Lauda put his Ferrari on pole for the French Grand Prix in Dijon 36 years ago in 58.79 seconds.
Jack Aitken, the Englishman making his grand prix debut here as Russell’s deputy finished 18th but will start ahead of 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen and last-placed Pietro Fittipaldi, the grandson of double world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.
The 24-year-old Brazilian is standing in for Romain Grosjean following his terrifying 225 kilometres per hour fireball inferno in last weekend’s race in Bahrain.
AAP
