Having endured his worst start to an F1 season since joining Mercedes and following a race-ending crash last time out with George Russell at Imola, Bottas returned to form at Portimao as he swept to his first pole since the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Neither Mercedes driver was able to improve in the final runs of Q3 but the Finn’s best lap - a 1m18.348s - saw him pip Hamilton by just 0.007s and prevent the seven-time world champion from becoming F1’s first driver to reach a century of poles. Bottas’ fastest Q3 effort ended up being slower than what Hamilton had set on the Medium tyres in Q2 but it was just enough to seal the 16th pole of his F1 career and act as a welcome confidence...
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