Hamilton captures pole for Russian GP
Sochi, Russia (SportsNetwork.com) – Formula One world championship leader Lewis Hamilton claimed his seventh pole of the season after topping his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas in Saturday’s qualifying for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s lap around the brand-new Sochi Autodrom was clocked in 1 minute, 38.513 seconds, which beat Rosberg’s lap by 0.2 seconds. This 3.637-mile (5.853- kilometer), 18-turn street circuit is located on an Olympic venue. Sochi hosted the XXII Olympic Winter Games in February.
“Pole is a great place to start,” said Hamilton, who will start first in a grand prix for the 38th time in his F1 career. “An amazing job done by the team, constantly improving and moving forwards this year. Thanks to them. We’re able to be on the front row quite often. It’s great to come here (to Sochi). It’s a beautiful place, and the weather has been amazing. Really enjoying driving this track.”
On his final run, Bottas had the quickest time in the first two sectors, but he got loose and ran wide in the final two turns, finishing 0.407 seconds behind Hamilton.
“I risked it a bit too much in the last two corners, went a little bit wide, and when you go offline, it’s really slippery like everyone saw. and that was it,” Bottas said.
Hamilton, who has won the last three grand prix (Italy, Singapore and Japan), enters Sunday’s Russian GP with a 10-point lead over Rosberg.
“Every race is important at the moment,” Rosberg said. “We have four to go. They are all just as important. Today, Lewis was quicker – all weekend really. So, I’ve been working hard to try to get close but didn’t manage to get closer than those two tenths (of a second) now, but that’s the way it is. I need to accept that.”
Mercedes has swept the front starting row nine times this season, including five straight grand prix, a streak that began in Belgium on the fourth weekend in August.
“It wasn’t the easiest session,” Hamilton said of qualifying for the Russian GP. “These guys (Rosberg and Bottas) were looking quite strong. Just hooking up a lap from some reason it wasn’t the same as practice. But I’m really grateful that I got the pole here for the first time. It’s going to be tough tomorrow. It’s a long way down to turn one, so we’ll find out how that works out.”
If Hamilton or Rosberg wins this race, then Mercedes will clinch the F1 constructors’ championship. Mercedes currently holds a 190-point lead over its closest competitor, Red Bull.
Jenson Button placed his McLaren fourth on the grid, while Russian Daniil Kvyat from Toro Rosso qualified a career-best fifth in front of his home crowd.
“It feels great securing P5 in today’s qualifying here in my home country,” Kvyat said. “I’m very happy we could put it all together and achieve my best ever qualifying result. The car felt very good and everything worked out well, so well done to the team.”
Kevin Magnussen from McLaren finished sixth in qualifying, but Magnussen received a five-spot grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. He will start 11th.
Magnussen’s penalty allowed Daniel Ricciardo from Red Bull to move up to sixth on the starting grid, followed by Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.
Ricciardo’s teammate, Sebastian Vettel, the four-time F1 world champion, failed to advance into the final qualifying round for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix in June. Vettel will start 10th.
“I wasn’t comfortable in the car today,” Vettel said. “It was very difficult. I think we took a step back from this morning (final practice), and we expected the rear to be a lot stronger and the track to pick up more than it did. The car felt nervous, so I couldn’t take the speed into the corners. I lost the rear many times around the lap and therefore wasn’t quick enough.”
Felipe Massa from Williams did not make it into the second round, as he qualified 18th. Massa experienced a fuel pressure problem.
“I had no real power throughout qualifying, and we were trying different things to resolve this out on track, but in the end, there was nothing I could do,” Massa said.
Categorized in: FIA