Lewis Hamilton may be “grateful” for his front row, but it was Valtteri Bottas who hit the “sweet spot” in Azerbaijan GP qualifying.
Mercedes hadn’t been on the level of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc throughout practice, but when the Monegasque hit the barrier in Q2, it opened the door for them to capitalise.
Initially, it appeared Hamilton had set the benchmark which wouldn’t be beaten but Bottas would snatched pole in the dying moments.
“I am really happy for pole, it is a nice feeling to get it on the last lap,” the Finn said post-session.
“It was a nice last lap and like I said, Ferrari have been really strong, obviously, Charles is out with a mistake but as a team, we did a really good job to be where we are now after such a difficult practice.”
While the Baku street circuit might be the second longest on the calendar after Spa-Francorchamps, just 0.059s split the Mercedes pair in the final results.
“It is all about small margins and I did get a good tow on that last lap,” Bottas continued. “Of course, the corners I have to drive as well. It is all about small details and I managed to hit the sweet spot.
“It was getting trickier and trickier and we are not supposed to race that late here but I got them [the tyres] to work somehow.”
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For Hamilton, the final result was a great relief on a weekend when he knew the competition would be stronger.
“This is a massively great result for us,” he stated.
“We came here without an upgrade, the Ferraris looked particularly quick and also Max – for us to lock out the front row in the circumstances I’m really grateful for and puts us in a fighting position tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to Sunday, the world champion added: “Pace-wise we are slightly closer in race trim than it seemed in qualifying. Valtteri is always quick here and I’ve had my work cut out this weekend.”
