Verstappen qualifies third for Emilia-Romagna GP: 'It was tricky'

Published on 31 October 2020 by Kees-Jan Koster

Max Verstappen qualified third for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. A problematic spark plug seemed to throw a spanner in the works during Q2, but the team was able to repair the RB16, so that Verstappen was able to do a timed lap to get him through to the third part of qualifying. In Q3 he set his fastest time of 1:14.176, good for the second starting row. Mercedes was supreme on the 5.44-kilometre-long Autodrome Enco e Dino Ferrari and took the first row on the grid with a large margin. Valtteri Bottas was on the winning end by beating teammate Lewis Hamilton, being a couple of tenths quicker.

“It was not really a great qualifying because of that problem in Q2”, says Max after qualifying. “I only did two laps in Q1 and then you want to go out and get that run in for Q2. We did our lap and we made it, but we did not have a good reference for Q3. In that session we struggled a bit. In my first run I had not much grip. The second was better, but tricky. P3 is not bad, but personally I had hoped to be a bit closer to the Mercedes to fight them a bit more.”

Under a sunny sky the first qualifying session starts. Kevin Magnussen for Haas is the first driver to come out on track. Max Verstappen leaves the pitlane a couple of minutes later and sets a 1:15.473 on a set of soft tyres. In a second attempt the Dutchman can take more than 4 tenths of his time. With a 1:15.034 he takes the lead briefly, before Lewis Hamilton sets a time almost half a second faster. The time set by Valtteri Bottas is deleted for exceeding track limits, so that the Finn with only five minutes to go must do another run.

Max does not come out again in Q1, but he goes through to the second part of qualifying with a safe margin. Both Mercedes do come out for a second run, the gap to the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver increases to more than eight tenths. Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Kimi Räikkönen, Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi do not make it through to Q2.

At the start of the second part of qualifying we see the Red Bulls, the Mercedes and the Ferraris come out on the yellow medium tyres. Soon after we hear Verstappen report over the radio that he lost power. The Dutchman, before he can do a times lap, returns to the pitlane, where mechanics start to try and fix the issue.

The team replaces a problematic spark plug in record time and Max can go out on track again. The nine-time Grand Prix winner has medium tyres on his RB16 and sets a 1:14.974 in his first and only timed lap in Q2, good for sixth position. Valtteri Bottas (P1) and Lewis Hamilton (P2) also set their times on the yellow rubber, so that the three of them can start the race tomorrow on that same compound. Sergio Pérez, Esteban Ocon, George Russell, Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll come short and drop out of Q2.

Carlos Sainz opens the third and final qualifying session with a 1:15.695. The Spaniard falls back into tenth position, but moves up after the first runs because Alexander Albon has his lap time deleted. Max goes in his first run to a 1:14.481 (P3), but is more than 7 tenths behind the Mercedes drivers. Meanwhile Lewis Hamilton is on the winning end by keeping Valtteri Bottas three tenths behind.

When the drivers come out for a second and final run, we see Verstappen to leave the pit box as the last of the group. Max can improve his time with more than three tenths, but the Mercedes are again to dominant to form a threat. Valtteri Bottas defeats Lewis Hamilton with just under a tenth and takes pole with a time of 1:13.609. Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo en Alexander Albon complete the top six.

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Results qualifying Emilia-romagna: