zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
Lewis Hamilton Takes Mugello's First-Ever F1 Pole Position
Lewis Hamilton Takes Mugello's First-Ever F1 Pole Position-March 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:03

Image for article titled Lewis Hamilton Takes Mugello's First-Ever F1 Pole Position

The Mugello circuit has never hosted a Formula One race before, which means that Lewis Hamilton has made history by taking pole position at the track ahead of Sunday’s race. And with his time of 1:15.144, Hamilton has also secured the lap record.

While it’s difficult to accurately predict how F1 drivers will respond to unfamiliar circuits, placing one’s bets on Mercedes is always the smart thing to do in 2020. The two drivers lock out the front row of the grid, followed by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Alex Albon in third and fourth, respectively.

Valtteri Bottas had dominated every practice session at Mugello, so it was a bit surprising that he wasn’t able to grab pole on Saturday. He might have had a shot had it not been for Esteban Ocon’s spin. Hamilton remained just 0.059s ahead of his teammate before Bottas went out for his final flying lap in Q3, but Bottas was forced to slow due to the local yellow flag thrown for Ocon’s car.

A fifth place start for Charles Leclerc was the best Ferrari could hope for at its home race and 1000th Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel qualified 14th, just barely making it out of Q1 with a final flying lap that just barely pushed him into Q2. The team certainly would have liked a much better starting position at a race this important, but Ferrari just hasn’t been capable of much better in 2020.

Vettel’s 14th place came at the expense of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, last weekend’s race winner. The French driver was able to capitalize on some poorly timed penalties and restarts, and reality hit hard as he was just barely pipped from Q1. He’ll start from 16th.

The Tuscan Grand Prix is full of unknowns, but its speed and tight turns likely won't make for many opportunities to pass. Drivers will have to be extra careful, however, because Mugello still retains gravel traps instead of the paved runoff of modern F1 tracks. Anyone who runs wide will be punished by the gravel—which is likely going to be the most exciting part of the race.

The full qualifying order can be found .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
The Indy 500 Won't Include Any Women For The First Time In 21 Years
The Indy 500 Won't Include Any Women For The First Time In 21 Years
On Monday for the Indianapolis 500 was released, and for the first time since 1999 it did not include a single woman. The list includes five rookies and ten former Indy 500 winners, but erstwhile competitor Pippa Mann couldn’t put together the program in time for qualification. Since Janet...
Mar 29, 2026
How To Watch Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, WEC, MotoGP, And Everything Else Happening in Racing This Weekend: August 15-16
How To Watch Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, WEC, MotoGP, And Everything Else Happening in Racing This Weekend: August 15-16
Welcome to the Jalopnik Weekend Motorsports Roundup, where we let you know what’s going on in the world of racing, where you can see it, and where you can talk about it all in one convenient place. Where else would you want to spend your weekend? This is the...
Mar 29, 2026
Antonio Felix Da Costa Wins His First Formula E Championship
Antonio Felix Da Costa Wins His First Formula E Championship
Antonio Felix da Costa’s years of dedication have paid off: the DS Techeetah driver has dominated the 2019-20 Formula E season and come home with the championship with two races remaining. The Portuguese driver has been involved with Formula E since its first season but had never finished higher...
Mar 29, 2026
Coronavirus Killed Mazda's TCR Program
Coronavirus Killed Mazda's TCR Program
Ever since last October I’ve been looking forward to Mazda’s gorgeous 3 TCR racer. The program has been fraught with issues. Not only was the program planned to begin racing in 2020, which has seen the season completely implode, but Mazda’s TCR partner manufacturer Long Road Racing went out...
Mar 29, 2026
Le Mans Won't Host Fans This Year After All
Le Mans Won't Host Fans This Year After All
Back in June the 24 Hours of Le Mans was scheduled to go ahead with limited spectator tickets. Thankfully on Monday the ACO announced that it would scrap that plan and refund all spectator tickets, opting for a closed-doors race on September 19/20 instead. The smarter plan, to be...
Mar 29, 2026
The EV West Electraliner Set A Bonneville Electric Speed Record At 218.2 MPH (Update: They Went Faster)
The EV West Electraliner Set A Bonneville Electric Speed Record At 218.2 MPH (Update: They Went Faster)
The EV car nerds will soon inherit the earth. From the moment this project started to the moment the car won its class speed record was just three months, which may well be the most impressive compressed racing program I’ve ever born witness to. made four runs in two...
Mar 29, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved