Wednesday November 27, 2024

Hamilton grabs pole at Brazilian GP

Finnish drivers Bottas, Räikkönen secure 3rd, 4th places

Published : 11 Nov 2018, 13:04

Updated : 12 Nov 2018, 00:15

  DF-Xinhua Report
Valtteri Bottas (L) of Finland, Lewis Hamilton (C) of Britain and Kimi Räikkönen of Finland pose for photos after the qualifying session of the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at Hungaroring in Mogyorod, Hungary, on July 28, 2018. File Photo Xinhua.

Finnish drivers Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen secured third and fourth places respectively in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Saturday.

World champion Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position by edging out Sebastian Vettel in qualifying on Saturday.

Hamilton posted a best lap of one minute 7.281 seconds in his Mercedes, 0.093 seconds ahead of his Ferrari rival at the Interlagos track.

Vettel was reprimanded and fined 25,000 euros for failing to turn off his engine when boarding the weighbridge.

The incident prompted a two-hour delay as stewards investigated him for breaching regulations.

"It was so close between us, we needed 100 percent today, not 99," Hamilton said. "I was really happy with my lap and I think that we did a great job collectively as a team to get pole today. We had to do a lot of work overnight and the team was faultless with their efforts," the Briton added.

Vettel said his indiscretion came as he tried to return quickly to the pits to change tyres.

"They shouldn't call us. When the conditions are changing like that, it is unfair. I wanted them to hurry up," the German said.

He added: "I don't want to talk it through. It's clear what happened. We did qualifying. I think we talk about qualifying."

Mercedes will clinch the constructors' title on Sunday if Ferrari don't outscore them by 13 points.