Sao Paulo, Brazil - Valtteri Bottas took pole position for the Brazil Grand Prix on Saturday as teammate and world champion Lewis Hamilton endured a controversial day off the Interlagos track and a storming drive on it.
Bottas claimed pole for Sunday's showpiece by winning the 24-lap sprint race.
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World championship leader Max Verstappen will start the grand prix beside the Finn on the front row in his Red Bull.
It was Hamilton, however, who ended the day as the chief headline maker.
The seven-time world champion, who trails Verstappen by 19 points in the title race with four events left, was relegated to the back of the grid for Saturday' sprint.
Your polesitter for Sunday's race in Sao Paulo 👌@ValtteriBottas defended hard for 24 laps to win the Sprint!#BrazilGP 🇧![CDATA[]]>🇷 #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/fFCi2iK2JB
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That was due to his disqualification from Friday qualifying, where he had been the fastest man on the track, after his car was judged to have breached technical rules.
He then shrugged off that setback by storming through the field from last place to finish fifth in the sprint.
However, he will still start Sunday's race in 10th place having already been given a five-place grid penalty for an engine change on his Mercedes.
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AFP