Lewis Hamilton stormed to his first pole position of the 2020 Formula 1 season by more than one second in the rain at the Red Bull Ring for the Styrian Grand Prix.
After a disappointing start to the 2020 Formula 1 season last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton dominated in the rain to secure his first pole position of the year at the same venue for Sunday’s Styrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton took the pole position for this 71-lap race around the 10-turn, 2.683-mile (4.318-kilometer) road course in Spielberg, Styria, Austria with a top lap time of 79.273 seconds (121.842 miles per hour) in the third and final round of qualifying.
Hamilton’s top lap time was 1.216 seconds (1.841 miles per hour) quicker than that of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who qualified in second place with a top lap time of 80.489 seconds (120.001 miles per hour).
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The gap from Hamilton to Verstappen was wider than that from Verstappen to 10th place Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, the slowest driver in the third and final round of qualifying. Vettel finished 1.162 seconds behind Verstappen with a top lap time of 81.651 seconds (118.294 miles per hour).
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. qualified in a career-high third place, and he is set to start alongside last week’s polesitter and race winner Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes in fourth. Renault’s Esteban Ocon qualified in fifth while McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified in sixth.
Red Bull’s Alexander Albon, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Vettel rounded out the top 10 in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place, respectively.
Norris was issued a three-place grid penalty for overtaking under yellow flags in the opening practice session, so he is set to drop back to ninth place on the starting grid while Albon, Gasly and Ricciardo are set to move up to sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Eliminated after the second round of qualifying were Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Williams’ George Russell, Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen. These five drivers qualified in 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th place, respectively.
Leclerc was issued a three-place grid penalty for blocking Kvyat in the second round of qualifying, so he is set to drop back to 14th place on the starting grid while Russell, Stroll and Kvyat are set to move up to 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively.
Russell had never advanced to the second round of qualifying in 22 previous attempts and is now 23-0 throughout his career in teammate qualifying battles.
Eliminated after the first round of qualifying were Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, Williams rookie Nicholas Latifi and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi. These four drivers qualified in 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th place, respectively. Haas’ Romain Grosjean did not record a lap time in this session and is set to start in 20th.
Here is the full starting lineup for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
Starting Lineup
1st – Lewis Hamilton
2nd – Max Verstappen
3rd – Carlos Sainz Jr.
4th – Valtteri Bottas
5th – Esteban Ocon
6th – Alexander Albon
7th – Pierre Gasly
8th – Daniel Ricciardo
9th – Lando Norris
10th – Sebastian Vettel
11th – George Russell
12th – Lance Stroll
13th – Daniil Kvyat
14th – Charles Leclerc
15th – Kevin Magnussen
16th – Kimi Raikkonen
17th – Sergio Perez
18th – Nicholas Latifi
19th – Antonio Giovinazzi
20th – Romain Grosjean
Tune in to ESPN tomorrow morning at 9:10 a.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Styrian Grand Prix from the Red Bull Ring.