Bottas takes pole as F1 returns to Imola after 14 years

Imola (Italy), Oct 31 (IANS) Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas on Saturday beat his teammate and World Championship leader Lewis Hamilton to pole at the Imola circuit in qualification for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as F1 returns here after 14 years.Bottas managed a best time of 1:13.609 seconds while Hamilton went around the track in 1:13.706 secs.Red Bull's Max Verstappen, meanwhile, survived a power issue in Q2 and fought back to gain third place. Verstappen was, however, unable to get anywhere close to the two Mercedes drivers at the historical track, finishing almost half a second behind Hamilton. Pierre Gasly, who is racing for the first time since confirming that he would remain at AlphaTauri in 2021, dashed into fourth place ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo. This is the first time since 2006 that a Formula 1 race is being held at Imola, where Brazilian Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna lost his life in 1994. Verstappen's teammate Alex Albon was sixth while Charles LeClerc managed to take his Ferrari around the circuit in 1:14.616 seconds to take P7.
--IANS rkm/qma