Bottas will start ahead of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull's Max Verstappen after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Portuguese Grand Prix qualifying results: Bottas on pole from Hamilton

Cla	Driver	Time	Gap
1	Valtteri Bottas	1'18.348
2	Lewis Hamilton	1'18.355	0.007
3	Max Verstappen	1'18.746	0.398
4	Sergio Perez	1'18.890	0.542
5	Carlos Sainz Jr.	1'19.039	0.691
6	Esteban Ocon	1'19.042	0.694
7	Lando Norris	1'19.116	0.768
8	Charles Leclerc	1'19.306	0.958
9	Pierre Gasly	1'19.475	1.127
10	Sebastian Vettel	1'19.659	1.311
11	George Russell	1'19.109	0.761
12	Antonio Giovinazzi	1'19.216	0.868
13	Fernando Alonso	1'19.456	1.108
14	Yuki Tsunoda	1'19.463	1.115
15	Kimi Raikkonen	1'19.812	1.464
16	Daniel Ricciardo	1'19.839	1.491
17	Lance Stroll	1'19.913	1.565
18	Nicholas Latifi	1'20.285	1.937
19	Mick Schumacher	1'20.452	2.104
20	Nikita Mazepin	1'20.912	2.564
View full results

What happened in Q1?

In the first session, when all cars were on track together, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz set the initial P1 time on soft tyres at 1m19.480s. Surprisingly, neither Bottas nor Verstappen could beat it – by 0.008s and 0.010s respectively – while Hamilton had a big slide at Turn 1, losing his lap of 1m18.726s which would have been fastest at the time.

Sainz improved to 1m19.309s, until Bottas lowered the quickest time to 1m19.205s. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez went off at Turn 4, while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso spun at Turn 14.

In the closing moments, McLaren's Lando Norris grabbed P1 on 1m18.794s until Bottas wrested top spot away with a lap of 1m18.722s. Hamilton ran again, and jumped up to third.

Knocked out at the first hurdle were McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, after a "messy" end to his fastest lap, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and the Haas duo of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Portuguese Grand Prix Q1 results: Bottas fastest from Norris

Cla	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Valtteri Bottas	8	1'18.722
2	Lando Norris	10	1'18.794	0.072
3	Lewis Hamilton	9	1'18.857	0.135
4	Esteban Ocon	8	1'19.092	0.370
5	Carlos Sainz Jr.	6	1'19.309	0.587
6	Sergio Perez	6	1'19.337	0.615
7	Charles Leclerc	11	1'19.373	0.651
8	Sebastian Vettel	10	1'19.403	0.681
9	Antonio Giovinazzi	9	1'19.410	0.688
10	Pierre Gasly	10	1'19.464	0.742
11	Max Verstappen	6	1'19.485	0.763
12	Yuki Tsunoda	9	1'19.684	0.962
13	Fernando Alonso	6	1'19.728	1.006
14	Kimi Raikkonen	10	1'19.748	1.026
15	George Russell	8	1'19.797	1.075
16	Daniel Ricciardo	11	1'19.839	1.117
17	Lance Stroll	10	1'19.913	1.191
18	Nicholas Latifi	9	1'20.285	1.563
19	Mick Schumacher	11	1'20.452	1.730
20	Nikita Mazepin	11	1'20.912	2.190
View full results

What happened in Q2?

In Q2, the pole position-hunting protagonists all ran on the medium tyre – Sainz again setting the early bar at 1m19.560s, before teammate Charles Leclerc pipped him.

Verstappen lowered P1 to 1m19.099s, before Bottas set 1m18.458s and Hamilton set a stonking 1m17.968s – almost half a second quicker than everyone. Verstappen fell back to fifth, behind soft runners Norris and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).

Knocked out at this point were George Russell (Williams – who missed out on a Q3 spot by 0.057s), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) and the second Alfa of Kimi Raikkonen.

Portuguese Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Bottas

Cla	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Lewis Hamilton	7	1'17.968
2	Valtteri Bottas	7	1'18.458	0.490
3	Lando Norris	7	1'18.481	0.513
4	Esteban Ocon	3	1'18.586	0.618
5	Max Verstappen	8	1'18.650	0.682
6	Charles Leclerc	10	1'18.769	0.801
7	Carlos Sainz Jr.	9	1'18.813	0.845
8	Sergio Perez	9	1'18.845	0.877
9	Sebastian Vettel	6	1'18.970	1.002
10	Pierre Gasly	8	1'19.052	1.084
11	George Russell	7	1'19.109	1.141
12	Antonio Giovinazzi	10	1'19.216	1.248
13	Fernando Alonso	6	1'19.456	1.488
14	Yuki Tsunoda	8	1'19.463	1.495
15	Kimi Raikkonen	9	1'19.812	1.844
View full results

What happened in Q3?

In the top-10 shootout, Bottas set the benchmark on 1m18.348s after the first runs, 0.007s ahead of Hamilton. Perez was third quickest, as Verstappen had his first lap deleted for exceeding track limits after he had a huge slide at Turn 4. His 1m18.209s would have been enough for pole, while the Mercs believed that they were faster on the mediums rather than the softs.

On the final runs, Bottas and Hamilton went for new mediums, while Verstappen and the rest went for fresh softs. Verstappen only managed third place, 0.398s off the Mercs, after having to pass Norris on his crucial lap.

Portuguese Grand Prix Q3 results: Bottas takes pole

Cla	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Valtteri Bottas	8	1'18.348
2	Lewis Hamilton	8	1'18.355	0.007
3	Max Verstappen	6	1'18.746	0.398
4	Sergio Perez	7	1'18.890	0.542
5	Carlos Sainz Jr.	8	1'19.039	0.691
6	Esteban Ocon	6	1'19.042	0.694
7	Lando Norris	7	1'19.116	0.768
8	Charles Leclerc	8	1'19.306	0.958
9	Pierre Gasly	8	1'19.475	1.127
10	Sebastian Vettel	6	1'19.659	1.311
View full results