The qualifying session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has ended, and there are no surprises regards to the pole-sitter in Imola. Yes, you guessed it right, Lewis Hamilton will be the man to lead the grid on Sunday after yet another great lap to seal his P1 grid spot in Q3. However, this time he’ll face the threat of two Red Bulls behind him with no Valtteri Bottas for support. What does he make of this rather rare challenge?

Speaking post-qualifying, Lewis said that he is pumped to take on the two RB16Bs in P2 and P3.

The Mercedes superstar stated, “I love it, I love the challenge. It’s great that we’ve got the two Red Bull’s there. I think it is definitely going to make the strategy harder and they’ve got great race pace.”

What’s also interesting to note is that the Red Bull in P2 is not that of Max Verstappen. Instead, it is Sergio Perez who will start alongside Hamilton on Sunday. Checo is usually not renowned for his Saturday pace, but he stepped up to the plate today, becoming the first teammate to beat Max since Ricciardo in 2018. As for Max, it’ll be interesting to see if he can break his Italian jinx.

While Hamilton swept home the plaudits from an enjoyable Saturday qualifying, his teammate Bottas didn’t perform up to expected standards.

Lewis Hamilton impresses whereas Bottas leaves a lot to be desired

It was a rather surprising end to qualifying for the Finn. Especially so since Bottas had actually been the quickest driver in the first two free practice sessions.

Well, he may not have taken pole, but one would have certainly thought he’d be among the top three finishers, but that wasn’t the case. The Finn ended Q3 in P8!

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No one saw that coming, but the result does give Red Bull the upper hand on Sunday. With Verstappen and Perez on alternate strategies, they could play the exact game Mercedes played on Hamilton in the last race.

It’s definitely shaping up to be a juicy race. Only time will tell who’ll come out on top. Let us know who you are backing to star in the race down below.

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