After a hard-fought qualifying session the Flying Finn, Valtteri Bottas secured pole position, scoring a time of 1:18.348. His teammate, Lewis Hamilton came in a close 0.007 seconds behind him. The Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez clocked in at a third of a second and a fifth of a second behind Hamilton respectively. George Russell set his fastest lap yet in the Williams car, starting in 11th. In the other Williams, Nicholas Latifi started 18th on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo got himself a surprise knockout of Q1 after finishing the session in 16th. Sebastian Vettel also got himself a surprise, but this time it’s not a surprise knockout but a surprise that went all the way to Q3, starting 10th on the grid
Written by Hafix Akbar, Edited by Tanishka Vashee
Bottas started the race well, pulling away from his teammate, Hamilton in the first corner and quickly cementing his starting position in the lead. Verstappen soon threatened the Mercedes 1-2 when he went and overtook Hamilton for a Mercedes sandwich.
Kimi Raikonnen was the unfortunate casualty of this race, having to retire just after the start of the second lap. He clipped his front wing into his teammate’s, Giovinazzi, left rear tyre and damaged it beyond repair. Which called for a safety car, the end of which led to a lot of shifts in positions.
Russian driver, Nikita Mazepin, was investigated after he allegedly ignored the blue flag waved at him when Sergio Perez was about to pass him. He was then slapped with a 5-second time penalty to be added to the end of his overall time of the race.
Ricciardo had a good recovery finish in ninth place despite starting sixteenth while his teammate Lando finished impressively at fifth. Ferrari’s Charles leclcerc finished sixth while Carlos Sainz was at the cusp of points down at 11th. The Alpines of Ocon and Alonso found their way through the midfield at seventh and eight respectively.
After the race today, Lewis Hamilton cemented his place in the Drivers’ Championship by over 7 points with Max Verstappen following closely in second place. Meanwhile, in the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes further dominates the championship with a lead of over 7 points.
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