Bottas takes pole position – Hamilton lags behind

Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari and Red Bull ace Max Verstappen followed behind on Saturday. Lewis Hamilton was fifth behind Charles Leclerc. The Briton could bag his sixth world title on Sunday (start at 20.10:XNUMX p.m. CET) with relatively little effort. An eighth place would be enough for him with two races left to finally secure himself against his teammate Bottas. If he also sets the fastest lap, even ninth place would be enough. But all of this only applies if Bottas wins the Grand Prix. If the Finn doesn't win, Hamilton will be world champion regardless of his result.

Lewis Hamilton can become world champion. © AP / Darron Cummings

“I knew how to approach it in Q3. “I’m happy that nobody drove better,” said a delighted Bottas after the 11th pole position of his career. Previously, a Ferrari driver had started from the front in six races since the end of the summer break. This time Vettel only managed second place. Leclerc had to install an older power unit in his car before qualifying because the newer version had failed in the last free practice session.

“It’s good that we’re at the front again on Saturday,” Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff said with satisfaction in an ORF interview. “It was very exciting at the end because everything was so close together,” said Vettel after second place. The German was only 12 thousandths of a second short of reaching pole. The Dutchman Verstappen echoed this assessment. In the end, the first five drivers were only separated by 0,292 seconds.

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Bottas takes pole position – Hamilton lags behind

Mercedes man Valtteri Bottas has broken Ferrari's pole position streak. The Finn, who has to win the US Grand Prix on Sunday to maintain his minimal chance of winning the World Championship, took the lead in qualifying with the new Austin record lap of 1:32,029 minutes.

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