Valtteri Bottas was rightly pleased with his pole – decided by the slenderest of margins – for the Portuguese Grand Prix. It will not bother the Finn one jot but it could not be ignored that he did so in an underwhelming qualifying session defined by the lack of grip at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. If Formula One wants a spectacle to sell on a Saturday afternoon, it must at least give the drivers the right conditions to show off their skills. Bottas beat his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton into second place, denying the world champion his 100th pole by seven-thousandths of a second, with Max Verstappen taking third for Red Bull. Yet afterwards all three were singing from the same sheet in their disappointment that such a challenging circuit with its fast and slow sectors, blind corners and swooping elevation changes through the hills of the Algarve has been neutered by its lack of grip after being resurfaced last year, preventing the drivers from pushing to the very limit. Verstappen has been critical of the lack of grip all weekend and opened what was to become a chorus of complaints in Portugal. “I didn’t enjoy one single lap this weekend because of the state of the track,” he said. “The layout is amazing but the grip we are experiencing I don’t think is nice. I know it is the same for everyone but for me it is not enjoyable to drive. “I remember coming here last year before the GP and it was honestly in the top three of my favourite tracks and then they changed the tarmac and now I don’t enjoy it any more.” Hamilton won his seventh title at the Turkish Grand Prix last season, another track that had been newly resurfaced and had a shockingly low level of grip. He has praised the Portimão track in the past for the “hardcore” challenge it presents but was left questioning why this grip problem is repeatedly occurring. “We are finding we are going to more and more circuits that seem to be changing the tarmac that they are using,” he said. “It’s not that great, when we are struggling for grip, it means it’s harder to follow and it has that knock-on effect. So we would ask for the good stuff back.” Even Bottas, still on a high from his first pole of the season, echoed their feelings. “I really like the layout, it’s cool, I like the elevation changes, it brings character and all types of different corners,” he said. “But it is extremely low grip, which makes it more tricky and less enjoyable than if it had grippy tarmac.” With the Canadian GP scheduled for June cancelled and replaced with another meeting at Istanbul Park in Turkey, there was a preemptive collective groan at what lies ahead. “I don’t even want to think about Turkey,” said Verstappen and Hamilton concurred. “I don’t understand what they do to make it worse, Turkey used to have good grip and the last time we went there we had none,” he said. “Turkey is going to be ho rrendous.” In a session that ebbed and flowed if not quite catching fire, it had looked initially like Hamilton had his 100th pole nailed on. He was quick in Q2, a full half a second up on Bottas at the top of the time sheets. Yet Bottas had the edge on the first runs in Q3 with both Mercedes drivers on the soft tyres, setting a time of 1min 18.348sec. Verstappen had been quickest of all but, struggling for grip, went wide and had his time deleted for exceeding track limits. When Hamilton and Bottas went out for their final flying laps Mercedes put both their men back on to the slower medium rubber. It was a gamble that did not work out in favour of either driver. Hamilton could not improve and neither could the Finn, whose first lap had been enough to deny the world champion. Verstappen finished four-tenths back, a gap that will be disappointing to Red Bull who have been competitive here. Bottas’s pole, his 17th, will delight the Finn, coming with Mercedes having looked to be under the cosh early this season from Red Bull, and it is just the start to the weekend he required. He has to challenge now if he is to make it a three-way title fight with Verstappen and Hamilton. Last year he overtook Hamilton, who was on pole, off the start line but was unable to match the world champion’s race pace and was ultimately re-passed with relative ease. The Finn must make his advantage count this time but doubtless the slippery surface will have a part to play. Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez was in fourth and Carlos Sainz in fifth for Ferrari. Esteban Ocon was in sixth for Alpine, Lando Norris in seventh for McLaren, Charles Leclerc in eighth for Ferrari, Pierre Gasly ninth for AlphaTauri and Sebastian Vettel 10th for Aston Martin. George Russell was in 11th for Williams. Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Räikkönen were in 12th and 15th for Alfa Romeo, Fernando Alonso was in 13th for Alpine with Yuki Tsunoda in 14th for AlphaTauri. Daniel Ricciardo was a disappointing 16th for McLaren, with Lance Stroll in 17th for Aston Martin, Nicholas Latifi in 18th for Williams. Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin were in 19th and 20th for Haas.