|
Team Summary:
The opening eighteen minute qualifying would commence and it would see a
rush of drivers coming out most on the soft tyre except the McLaren's who
were on the medium. The Williams drivers would be amongst them as Mazepin
set a 1m:27.393 but Norris would move ahead with a 1m:27.433. Stroll would
go quickest only to see others go quicker. Norris with a 1m:19.918 was
fastest but Sainz would move ahead with a 1m:19.480. Leclerc was now second
but Verstappen and Bottas would move into second but Bottas would take this
spot. Alonso was fourth with Ocon fifth but they would drop down one place
as Hamilton went fastest with a 1m:18.726. The Williams drivers were 17th
and 19th. But Hamilton's time would be deleted seeing Sainz again fastest
but Bottas would go quickest with a 1m:19.205.
Perez was now third followed by Verstappen, Alonso, Ocon, Norris, Leclerc,
Gasly, and Stroll now tenth. Hamilton would set a time that would see him
fifth as we saw Perez go off and onto the gravel but was able to get out and
continue. The bottom half of the field were out for second runs all looking
to improve. Giovinazzi was now seventh followed by Ocon, Norris and Leclerc
tenth. The Williams drivers were now 18th and 19th as they started their
second runs. Vettel was now fourth and as Norris went quickest with a
1m:18.794. Giovinazzi was now sixth and Hamilton was now third. Ocon would
move up to fourth seeing the Williams drivers now 15th and 18th.
With the end of the period the order would be Bottas, Norris, Hamilton,
Ocon, Sainz, Perez, Leclerc, Vettel, Giovinazzi, and Gasly tenth. The
Williams Racing Team would see one of their cars make it into Q2 and with
the start of the second period we would see a mix of soft and medium tyres
in use. The remaining Williams was on the medium tyre. After the opening
runs Bottas would go quickest only to see Hamilton go quickest with a
1m:17.968. Bottas was now second followed by Norris, Ocon, Verstappen,
Perez, Vettel, Leclerc, Gasly and Alonso tenth. The sole Williams was 11th
just 0.049 behind tenth. With their final run the Williams would return on
the soft tyre and would set a time only 0.057 off tenth. He would just miss
out in make it into Q3. A great driver from George to be so close to Q3.
The final period of qualifying would see the first runs seeing Bottas
quickest from Hamilton, Perez, Sainz, Norris, Leclerc, Gasly, Ocon, Vettel
and Verstappen slowest with no time after having his lap time deleted. Both
Mercedes would come out for their second runs using the medium tyre but
Verstappen could only manage third behind the Mercedes. Perez was fourth
followed by Sainz, Ocon, Norris, Leclerc, Gasly and Vettel tenth. This would
see Bottas taking pole for the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. For Williams
their cars will start Sunday's race from 11th and 18th. |
|
George Russell:
George would be out first for Williams using the soft tyre. His first lap
was a 1m:20.712 which saw him fastest but he would drop down the order. He
would be ninth then 12th. George would improve with a 1m:20.520 but even so
was only currently 15th. This would become 16th as he pitted after a five
lap run. With only three minutes remaining George would return also on new
soft tyres. George would set a 1m:19.797 to be 12th but would drop to 14th
then 15th but would make it through into Q2. He would out qualify the likes
of Ricciardo, and Stroll. George would respond to his engineer saying "I did
not deserve that". He also commented on his fuel so he must have been very
light on the fuel side of things. In Q2 George would return on the medium
tyre and would set a 1m:30.667 to be eighth. But it was very much a case of
him bringing his tyres in. He would improve with a 1m:19.517 to be ninth
then 11th. He would put after a four lap run with six minutes remaining. In
the pits he would drop to 13th and with two minutes remaining he would come
out this time on the soft tyre. He would finish with a 1m:19.109 to be 11th
and out of qualifying but he was just 0.057 off tenth. Such a great
performance from George. Nicholas Latifi:
Nicholas would follow his team-mate out also using the soft tyre for his
first run. A 1m:20.923 from Nicholas and he was ninth. He would drop to 11th
then 18th as others went quicker. He would pit after a five lap run. With
fve minutes remaining Nicholas would return on a new set of soft tyres. He
would set a 1m:20.285 to now be 15th. This would become 18th as he pitted
seeing him out of qualifying. The weekend for Nicholas has been a real
struggle. |
