Bojan Vrbnjak
Today's qualifiers at the legendary Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari track in Imola were won by Valtteri Bottas, who was one tenth of a second faster than his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes was once again a class by itself, with third-placed Max Verstappen trailing by more than a second.
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes - pole position
"Fighting for poles is never easy. But if you manage, here in Imola, to drive a fast lap, then it’s a crazy feeling. After the first try, I knew I had to add. However, I also knew that only minor improvements would suffice, which would suffice for the best of times. And I managed to find these minimal improvements. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime feeling and I still tremble. It was hardest in the second and third turns as well as the combination in front of the finish line. If I wanted to drop in those places, the car was unstable. But in the last attempt, I still succeeded. Tomorrow? The road to the first turn is very long and I’m sure Lewis and Max will chase me, but I’m ready."
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - second place
"Valtteri did a better job today. My first quick lap was good, the second was bad. And if the race cars are so close together, then you’re different. You can’t always complete a circle perfectly. But Imola is really crazy, what a phenomenal track. Our race cars are fast here and it’s a huge challenge and a great feeling. We will have more resistance from the side in the race Red Bulla, so it always is. And over long distances they left a good impression. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m afraid we’re going to have a boring race because overtaking is very difficult here. After the first turn, it will be like a fast train. Normally, your car needs to be two seconds faster to be able to overtake normally. But we are much closer together. Otherwise, I am happy that we are here in Imola, it is an old school trail and I wonder why such trails are no longer being built. Imola is a real classic."
MaxVerstappen, Red Bull - third place
"These weren’t great qualifiers, but it was enough to put me in my usual place. In the first part of the qualification I was only able to drive two laps due to an engine problem and in Q2 it became tight. I knew we were basically fast enough to be able to progress even with a medium mix, but because we had little time, we had no reference. In the end, it went well, but to be honest, I expected to be closer to Mercedes. I hope it gets better in the race as our long distance attempts have been good, so I hope we can show that speed again tomorrow. As for the final speed, we are well prepared. But the biggest problem will be overtaking."
