Valtteri Bottas was ecstatic after pipping Lewis Hamilton to secure pole for F1’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Mercedes duo were separated by just six thousandths of a second as the Finn ensured he’ll start at the very front of the grid for Sunday’s race.
Bottas and Hamilton proved, once again, they’re the class of the field with a second between pole-sitter Bottas and third-fastest qualifier Nico Hulkenberg of Racing Point.
Bottas was unable to hide his delight as he claimed Mercedes’ eighth consecutive pole at the Northamptonshire circuit.
“It feels good,” said Bottas. “I just love qualifying, especially when it goes well. It’s a good feeling. It’s really nice to get P1.
“I’m proud of myself and proud of the car. Setup-wise, we made good steps from last week and that’s why the qualifying performance was better today than last week.
“Really pleased with that and proud to drive this amazing car. It’s so quick.”
Mercedes’ front-row lock out at Silverstone is their 67th in F1 – a record which they claimed from Ferrari earlier this season.
Bottas will have to be on his guard from the off on Sunday, with team-mate Hamilton desperate to get ahead for a fourth win of 2020.
There was very little to split Bottas and Hamilton during practice and qualifying before the 30-year-old got his nose in front during Q3.
And his sole focus is on securing the win which would close the gap on World Drivers’ Championship leader Hamilton.
“Mentally, when you’re starting from the pole, you can only aim to win the race and, obviously, the starting point for the race is good,” said Bottas.
“I think the race pace is there. The first job is to get a good start off the line as I had last weekend to go from there.
“Mentality is to try to win. That’s it.”