Eifel Grand Prix – Qualifying: Valtteri Bottas dominates

The main attraction of Q1 was obviously the return of Nico Hülkenberg to the Racing Point seat. The German took to the track very early in the session to get back into the swing of competition. His first lap was six seconds off the reference times, but he managed to improve his pace. However, he ultimately was unable to do better than the last position in the session.

The track improved significantly at the end of the session, which allowed all the drivers to improve. Romain Grosjean briefly appeared in fifth position, but his time was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 4. The Frenchman could kick himself, as he was eliminated by just two hundredths by Antonio Giovinazzi.

The drivers eliminated in Q1 were: Grosjean, Russell, Latifi, Räikkönen, and Hülkenberg

As often at the start of Q2, the question was to see who chose to use medium tires instead of soft ones. The answer was, unsurprisingly, both Mercedes but also both Ferraris, showing a comeback in form this weekend, and Daniel Ricciardo’s Renault.

However, the first attempt was not a great success since Valtteri Bottas was in eighth place, ahead of Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo, and Sebastian Vettel. That’s why the red bands quickly made a comeback for the final assault.

In the end, Charles Leclerc was the one who eliminated his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, condemned to eleventh place. The gap between the two Ferraris was thus half a second, which made the difference between 5th and 11th place.

The eliminated drivers from Q2 were: Vettel, Gasly, Kvyat, Giovinazzi, and Magnussen.

Surprise during the first attempt in Q3 with Max Verstappen in the lead, with 68 and 81 thousandths of a second ahead of the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. The Briton managed to improve to take the lead, but it was only temporary as Valtteri Bottas pipped him by more than two-tenths at the line.

Note that Charles Leclerc achieved a great performance by slipping between the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Alex Albon, while Sergio Perez separated the two McLarens to complete the top 10.

The results of the 2020 Eiffel Grand Prix qualification