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Based on speed in free practice, both Mercedes should be easily ahead. But then almost everything would have gone wrong with Hamilton, and Bottas is only third fastest. Toto Wolff takes position.
First, things turned out differently than you might think, second: Mercedes was a huge favorite before the last training session at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton seemed capable of setting the best times as they pleased. But nothing is certain in Formula 1 until the checkered flag falls.
Sebastian Vettel’s accident ruined everything, Lewis Hamilton was able to do a fast lap with a 1.25 second reserve in the second part of qualifying and work his way to the top ten, but with the mortgage he would have this time. smooth Pirelli drove. This compromises your racing strategy. In qualifying 3, the Briton claimed pole position number 96 of his Formula 1 career.
Valtteri Bottas had driven so well in free practice that the Finn thought he had a legitimate shot at securing Sochi’s second pole after 2018, but when it came to the sausage he had to be content with starting position 3, behind Hamilton. , but surprisingly also behind Max. Verstappen. The runner-up in the World Cup declared then that he did not understand where his speed had come.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said of the turbulent final training session at the Sochi Olympic ground: “Sometimes the same routes that we look good on in free practice prove particularly difficult in qualifying and training. career. It was the same today. “
“We had a very strong car, but we almost ran into a red flag. Today we had the racing gods on our side to get to Q3. It is always impressive how Lewis achieves it all, even in the most difficult circumstances. He put in a fantastic performance today and took pole position. “
Classification, Sotschi
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB), Mercedes, 1: 31.304 min
2. Max Verstappen (NL), Red Bull Racing, +0.563 seconds
3. Valtteri Bottas (FIN), Mercedes, +0.652
5. Sergio Pérez (MEX), Racing Point, +1,013
4. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS), Renault, +1,060
6. Carlos Sainz (E), McLaren, +1,246
7. Esteban Ocon (F), Renault, +1,320
8. Lando Norris (GB), McLaren, +1 543
9. Pierre Gasly (F), AlphaTauri, +1,696
10. Alex Albon (T), Red Bull Racing, +1,704
11. Charles Leclerc (MC), Ferrari, +1,935
12. Daniil Kvyat (RUS), AlphaTauri, +1,945
13. Lance Stroll (CDN), Racing Point, +2,060
14. George Russell (GB), Williams, +2 279
15. Sebastian Vettel (D), Ferrari, +2,305
16. Romain Grosjean (F), Haas, +3 288
17. Antonio Giovinazzi (I), Alfa Romeo, +3,290
18. Kevin Magnussen (DK), Haas, +3,377
19. Nicholas Latifi (CDN), Williams, +3,762
20. Kimi Räikkönen (FIN), Alfa Romeo, +3 963
Drivers from the World Championship stand after 9 of 17 races
1. Hamilton 190 points
2. Bottas 135
3. Verstappen 110
4. Norris 65
5. Albon 63
6. Walk 57
7. Ricciardo 53
8. Leclerc 49
9. Pérez 44
10. Gasly 43
11. Sainz 41
12. Ocon 30
13. Vettel 17
14. Kvyat 10
15. Nico Hülkenberg (D) 6
16. Raikkonen 2
17. Giovinazzi 2
18. Magnussen 1
19. Latifi 0
20. Russell 0
21. Grosjean 0
Trademarks
1. Mercedes 325
2. Red Bull Racing 173
3. McLaren 106
4. Racing Point 92
5. Renault 83
6. Ferrari 66
7. AlphaTauri 53
8. Alfa Romeo 4
9. Haas 1
10. Williams 0
