Sakhir Grand Prix – Qualifying: Neck and Neck

Before this qualifying session, the entire paddock smiled when Romain Grosjean got back into his Haas seat, just six days after his horrific accident! Amazing to see Romain sat back in the car this afternoon ❤️ 🇫🇷 x @RGrosjean #HaasF1 #SakhirGP pic.twitter.com/btMzksJVCl — Haas F1 Team (@HaasF1Team) December 5, 2020. For his first F1 qualifying, Romain Grosjean’s replacement, Pietro Fittipaldi, had very little pressure as he was certain to start last because his mechanics were forced to change engine components, resulting in a grid penalty. In the end, it didn’t matter as the Brazilian recorded the slowest time of the session.

In the battle at Williams, Jack Aitken was ahead of his teammate for a long time, which was quite a performance for the rookie. But on the final attempt, Nicholas Latifi managed to improve and get ahead of the Briton. This is the first time this season, and thus in his career, that he has beaten his teammate.

On the other hand, Red Bull played with fire by not sending its drivers out for a final assault. While this wasn’t an issue for Max Verstappen, who finished 2nd, it was very close for Alex Albon, who only managed 15th place, with just an 85 thousandths of a second lead over Kevin Magnussen.

The Q1 Eliminated

: Magnussen, Latifi, Aitken, Räikkönen, Fittipaldi.

During Q2, many teams, including Ferrari, took a gamble with medium tires. While both drivers went out for a second attempt on mediums, only Charles Leclerc completed his lap as he could improve, whereas Sebastian Vettel dove into the pits to switch to softs.

At Red Bull, once again the strategy was different between the two drivers, with Max Verstappen on mediums while Alex Albon took softs. When the Dutchman switched to the red tires, he was able to set the fastest time of the session, while the Thai driver couldn’t do better than 12th.

Two minutes from the end, the entire field decided to head back out on track with soft tires, with the notable exception of the Mercedes drivers. They would therefore be the only ones to benefit from these tires. Notably, there were no traffic management issues. However, the surprise was that Lando Norris was unable to improve and thus had to settle for 15th place on the grid.

New disappointment for Esteban Ocon, who finished in 11th position while his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, managed to climb to 5th position, bringing the match between the two Renault drivers to 15-1 this year.

As for Charles Leclerc, while he had been dominated by Sebastian Vettel for the past two races, the Monegasque was determined to do well in Q3, whereas the German ended his session at this stage, with the 13th time.

The eliminated from Q2

: Ocon, Albon, Vettel, Giovinazzi, Norris.

After the first attempt in Q3, surprise: no Mercedes on the front row as Max Verstappen outpaced Charles Leclerc. Valtteri Bottas was only 3rd and George Russell, 5th. The Ferrari driver was thrilled with his lap but didn’t get the chance to try to do even better, running out of fresh tires, but he held onto his fourth place, which could only give him a big smile.

During the second attempt, starting later than the rest of the pack, the Mercedes team set things straight with a Bottas-Russell one-two. They then went out for a third attempt, at the same time as all the other drivers. It was extremely close as only 56 milliseconds separated the top three! Although it’s the first time he’s been beaten by his teammate, George Russell has no reason to be ashamed of his performance.

For Pierre Gasly, it was only a ninth place due to a damaged floor since Q1, while Daniil Kvyat slipped into 6th place as Sergio Perez continues to impress at the wheel of his Racing Point, with the 5th place.

Results Table for the Qualifications

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