Bottas to start sprint qualifying from first as Mercedes lock out front row

10/09/2021

Valtteri Bottas will start Saturday’s sprint qualifying at Monza from the front of the grid, ahead of his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Bottas, whose move to Alfa Romeo for 2022 was confirmed at the start of the week, had been fifth after the first runs in Q3 because of a mistake at the Variante della Roggia chicane.

Yet, despite giving a tow to Hamilton, Bottas improved by five tenths on his second run to beat the Briton by 0.096 seconds.

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With a brand new power unit for this weekend, Bottas will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid. With that grid only set by the results of the sprint qualifying on Saturday, however, the 32-year-old Finn will line up for the 18-lap sprint from first.

Back for its second of three trial runs after first being used in F1 at Silverstone, points are awarded for the top three finishers in the sprint, meaning Bottas will have the opportunity to take a couple of points away from Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen.

Three tenths ahead of Verstappen, Hamilton was not too disappointed to qualify second, the Mercedes in a league of their own round the Temple of Speed.

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Verstappen will start from third after a double slipstream from teammate Sergio Perez and AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly on his first run negated Red Bull’s lack of pace.

After struggling last weekend, Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo both had an excellent session in their McLarens. Within 0.023 and 0.029 seconds of Verstappen respectively, they will start from fourth and fifth.

Gasly, who won last year’s race in Monza, continued his impressive form to go sixth-fastest, the twelfth time this season that the Frenchman has qualified in the top six.

The two Ferraris will line up next to each other on the fourth row of the grid, Spaniard Carlos Sainz ahead of Charles Leclerc, a winner around Monza with the Scuderia in 2019.

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Sergio Perez will start from ninth after providing a tow for teammate Verstappen on both runs.

Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi rounds out the top 10, the Italian getting into Q3 for the second consecutive weekend as he fights to keep his seat for 2022.