It wasn't the qualifying session that we are used to seeing on Saturday when the four time world champion Lewis Hamilton crashed out in the opening session before he even set a time. However, with his teammate out of contention, Valtteri Bottas took over the reins and pulled out all the tops to secure the third pole position of his career.
Even though he was devastated at the thought of starting from pitlane, Lewis Hamilton was the first to congratulate his teammate on a superb pole, edging out the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel in the final minute.
For Valtteri, starting alongside Sebastian Vettel could see several outcomes, but there is only one he is looking for, victory!
โIt was so close in qualifying, as it always tends to be in Brazil,โ he said. โI knew going into the last run in Q3 that I had to improve if I wanted to be on pole. I could feel and see that I was improving corner after corner. It's such a good feeling to get everything together in the end. It was very unfortunate that Lewis wasn't there for Q2 and Q3. So it was up to me to deliver for the team, and I'm very happy that I could.โ
โI have the clear goal to still try and become second in the Drivers' Championship. Having a good target makes everyone in the team work harder, including myself. It's going to be important to have a good, clean race tomorrow, but it won't be easy, the Ferraris are very quick as well.โ
โTurn 1 and 2 are always tricky in Interlagos, but hopefully I will get a good getaway so there won't be any issues. It's only my third pole position, so I will very much like the view from the starting line tomorrow.โ
