Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position for the Russian Grand Prix by half a second. The six-times champion looked to be in trouble at the end of Q2 following a crash for Sebastian Vettel, who crashed out with two minutes to go and Hamilton was left without a time, after his first lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.<\/p>\n
Red Bulls Max Verstappen was second, splitting the two Mercedes, however, could not get close to Hamilton. Hamilton was at risk pole position after missing the bollards at Turn Two in Q1 after running wide, however the stewards decided that there was no advantage gained when reviewing the evidence.<\/p>\n
Hamilton is searching for a record-equalling ninety-first career win, but was on the cusp of being knocked out in Q2 after not getting a clean lap in. As ever, the Englishman bounced back putting half a second between himself when it mattered to secure pole position.<\/p>\n
Hamilton was placed under investigation for running wide at Turn Two, along with Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen, and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. Sebastian Vettel then crashed the Ferrari leading to the session to be red-flagged, and that left the Mercedes without a time.<\/p>\n
The six-time champion is also concerned about the long run down to the first corner, starting on pole isn\u2019t always an advantage given the long run to the first braking zone at Turn Two. Also needing to switch to the less daubable soft tyres could hinder race strategy.<\/p>\n
Teammate Valtteri Bottas was third fastest, the Finn was almost a tenth behind Verstappen on the final run, despite clouting the kerb at Turn Two.<\/p>\n
Bottas and Verstappen hold a slight advantage going into the race starting on the medium tyre, which means Hamilton starting on the soft tyre will need to be warry because he has tyres which will degrade quicker.<\/p>\n
Hamilton said, \u201cI am starting on the soft tyre, which is not good. It’s nice being on pole but here is probably the worst place to be on pole and undoubtedly I am probably going to get drafted by and the cars behind me and they are starting on the medium and that is definitely the better tyre.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bottas added, \u201cIt has been looking pretty good all weekend but Q3 I found some gains but the others found more. Here it is pretty sensitive with the tyres getting it right. The first run the tyres were too cold and the second one, I don’t know. It’s a pretty good place to start third here and I am on the right tyre as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Racing Point\u2019s Sergio Perez was fourth ahead of Renault\u2019s Daniel Ricciardo but just under five-hundredths of a second in what has been shaping up to be a close fight between the two teams.<\/p>\n
Ricciardo was over a tenth and a half quicker than Carlos Sainz, McLaren went into the session believing they were slower than there two main rivals and they were correct.<\/p>\n
Esteban Ocon was seventh, the Frenchman managed to spilt the two McLarens going seven hundredths slower than Sainz and managed to out-qualify Lando Norris by two tenths. Pierre Gasly was ninth fastest ahead of the second Red Bull of Alex Albon.<\/p>\n
Ferrari\u2019s qualifying saw both cars out in Q2, Charles Leclerc missing out by a few tenths. Leclerc and Vettel had only just managed to scrape through in the closing moments of Q1.<\/p>\n
However, Vettel\u2019s crash towards the end of the session brought out the red flag, leaving those in the drop zone with just one lap to try and improve.<\/p>\n
Leclerc was nearly caught up in the accident, he was forced to take avoiding action on what is set to be another frustrating afternoon for Ferrari. But he appeared not to have the pace to challenge the Mercedes or Red Bull\u2019s for pole position.<\/p>\n
Daniil Kvyat was forced to miss the final run in Q2, it’s not known why but his Alpha Tauri was pushed out of the queue of cars waiting for the restart. He starts his home Grand Prix from twelfth, ahead of the Racing Point of Lance Stroll.<\/p>\n
George Russell made it through to Q2 for the first time since Barcelona, at one point the Williams driver was faster than Vettel. He did a single run in Q2 going half a second faster than his best time in Q1 which knocked Romain Grosjean out.<\/p>\n
For the fourth race in a row, Ferrari power once again occupied most of the second half of the grid. Kevin Magnussen knocked out in Q1 for the second race in a row, he starts eighteenth behind Grosjean and the Alfa Romeo.<\/p>\n
Nicholas Latifi was nineteenth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen by just over two-tenths of a second. While most of the focus this weekend has been on Hamilton attempting to equal Schumacher\u2019s ninety-one wins, Raikkonen will also be equalling records, should he start the race, he will equal Rubens Barrichello\u2019s 322 race starts.<\/p>\n
However, the most experienced driver on the grid, suffered a spin after striking the orange track limits deterrent kerb at the Turn 2 apex, which looped him around and he toured slowly around the inside of the ensuing long Turn 3 to avoid disrupting those cars following the Alfa Romeo.<\/p>\n