Eifel GP: Bottas beats Hamilton, Verstappen to pole
Valtteri Bottas beat Lewis Hamilton to pole in qualifying for Formula 1's Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, while Nico Hulkenberg qualified last.
Mercedes maintained its 100% record in qualifying so far in 2020, but faced stiff competition from Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who had topped Q1 and was just adrift of Hamilton at the head of the times in Q2.
Verstappen even led the way after the first runs in Q3, but Bottas prevailed as the Mercedes drivers fired back on their second efforts.
Bottas ended up with the fastest middle sector on his final lap, a 1m25.269s, which put him clear by 0.256s as he shuffled Hamilton down to second, with the world champion ending up with the fastest time in the final sector.
Verstappen started his final lap with the quickest sector one time, but he faded as the lap wore on and he wound up 0.293s adrift of pole.
Both Verstappen and Hamilton went slower in Q3 compared to their laps in the middle segment.
Charles Leclerc stunned Alex Albon to take fourth for Ferrari, with the Red Bull driver knocked down to fifth as a result of the Monegasque racer's last-gasp improvement.
All the leading cars will start tomorrow's race on the softs, despite the Mercedes and Ferrari cars, and Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, experimenting with the medium tyres early in Q2.
Ricciardo qualified sixth in Q3 ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon, with Lando Norris qualifying eighth ahead of Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.
Leclerc's late improvement to set the fifth fastest time in Q1 knocked out his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel, who set a personal best on his final lap in the middle segment but wound up being shuffled down to 11th.
Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat also improved on their final runs in Q2, but they were both knocked out in P12 and P13, while a last-gasp lap from Antonio Giovinazzi gave him 14th place for Alfa Romeo ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
In Q1, Hulkenberg, who was always due to travel to the Nurburgring on Saturday to work for German broadcaster RTL before his late call-up to replace the unwell Stroll ahead of qualifying, was out early to learn the track in the Canadian's RP20.
He completed a run of several laps on the softs as soon as the opening segment got under way and spent most of the session at the foot of the times, although he was briefly able to move up to P19 ahead of the final runs in Q1.
Hulkenberg's final lap featured a deep moment at the first corner and brief lock ups on the right front and left front respectively at Turn 6 – the right-hander that runs down towards the hairpin – and on the approach to the final chicane.
He set a personal best but lost time in the final sector and wound up last, 0.204s slower than Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen.
Romain Grosjean missed the cut after having his best lap of the session – a 1m27.118s – deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4 in the shadow of the Mercedes grandstand that overlooks the corner and Turn 1.
The Haas driver was able to set another time in the closing moments but was shuffled down and out ahead of the Williams pair George Russell and Nicholas Latifi, as they finished P17 and P18.
Cla | Driver | Chassis | Time | Gap | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | | ![]() | Mercedes | 1'25.269 | |
2 | | ![]() | Mercedes | 1'25.525 | 0.256 |
3 | | ![]() | Red Bull | 1'25.562 | 0.293 |
4 | | ![]() | Ferrari | 1'26.035 | 0.766 |
5 | | ![]() | Red Bull | 1'26.047 | 0.778 |
6 | | ![]() | Renault | 1'26.223 | 0.954 |
7 | | ![]() | Renault | 1'26.242 | 0.973 |
8 | | ![]() | McLaren | 1'26.458 | 1.189 |
9 | | ![]() | Racing Point | 1'26.704 | 1.435 |
10 | | ![]() | McLaren | 1'26.709 | 1.440 |
11 | | ![]() | Ferrari | 1'26.738 | 1.469 |
12 | | ![]() | AlphaTauri | 1'26.776 | 1.507 |
13 | | ![]() | AlphaTauri | 1'26.848 | 1.579 |
14 | | ![]() | Alfa Romeo | 1'26.936 | 1.667 |
15 | | ![]() | Haas | 1'27.125 | 1.856 |
16 | | ![]() | Haas | 1'27.552 | 2.283 |
17 | | ![]() | Williams | 1'27.564 | 2.295 |
18 | | ![]() | Williams | 1'27.812 | 2.543 |
19 | | ![]() | Alfa Romeo | 1'27.817 | 2.548 |
20 | | ![]() | Racing Point | 1'28.021 | 2.752 |
View full results |

Previous article
Eifel GP qualifying as it happened
Next article
2020 F1 Eifel Grand Prix qualifying results, full grid lineup

About this article
Series | Formula 1 |
Event | Eifel GP |
Sub-event | QU |
Author | Alex Kalinauckas |
Eifel GP: Bottas beats Hamilton, Verstappen to pole
Trending
Is Red Bull Hiding the Real RB16B? | F1 2021
Sergio Perez's First Drive With Red Bull Racing
Alfa Romeo C41 and Alfa Romeo C39 Compared
Say Hello To The RB16B | Unveiling Our 2021 Car
The pros and cons of F1's 2021 rule changes
In the strategy for grand prix racing's future, 2021 represents a significant step towards the goal of closer racing and a more level playing field. That's the theory behind the latest raft of changes, but will they have the desired effect?
What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch
Red Bull made no secret of the fact its 2021 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, but in keeping the same foundations while hiding some tightly-guarded updates with its RB16B, the team aims to avoid suffering the same pitfalls of previous years
How Albon plans to fight his way out of Red Bull limbo
Alex Albon has faced the media for the first time since he lost his Red Bull drive at the end of 2020 and dropped out of a Formula 1 race seat altogether. He has a history of bouncing back from setbacks, so here's what he must do to rise again
Ranked! Carlin's greatest F1 graduates
Carlin has helped guide enough drivers to Formula 1 to fill out an entire grid, plus a handful of reserves, to create a remarkable alumni list. With Yuki Tsunoda set to join that group, Motorsport.com has ranked its graduates to grace the grand prix scene...
Why Alfa's 2021 launch says more about its 2022 plans
Alfa Romeo launched its C41 with a revised front nose, but there's little to suggest it will surge up the leaderboard in 2021. As the team frankly admits, it's putting its eggs in the basket labelled 2022 and hoping to hold the eighth place it earned last year
Why Gasly’s AlphaTauri haven is a blessing and a curse
Red Bull opted not to re-sign Pierre Gasly even before it decided to drop Alex Albon and so the Frenchman's Formula 1 journey will continue at AlphaTauri. This has positive and negative connotations for one of last season's star performers.
Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021
After seven years of defeat at the hands of Mercedes, Red Bull is as hungry as ever to secure a fifth world championship. But there are key challenges it must overcome in 2021 to switch from challenger to conqueror
How AlphaTauri has adapted to F1's new rules
AlphaTauri launched its AT02, complete with a new livery, as it bids to home in on an already-tight midfield battle. Although there were few outright new parts displayed on the launch render, there might be a few clues into further changes down the line…