FORMULA 1
LCH ON POLE VETTEL CRASHES MAX ON FRONT ROW
LCH avoided a scare in Q2 to claim pole position for the Russian Grand Prix, where he can equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Formula One victories.
Hamilton very nearly got eliminated in the middle qualifying session after having his first Q2 time deleted for going too wide at the final corner. When Sebastian Vettel crashed with 2:15 left on the clock, the session was red flagged with Hamilton yet to set a valid time.
Vettel crashes his Ferrari in Q2 Sochi qualifying
When the session resumed, the reigning world champion and the rest of the drivers in the session had to rush around the circuit to start their timed laps before the clock expired — Hamilton made it across with just 1.25 seconds to go.
After making it through to Q3, Hamilton was comfortable, finishing 0.5s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who beat Valtteri Bottas to the final front row slot in the closing seconds of the session.
“The session was… just one of the worst qualifying sessions,” Hamilton said afterwards. “Just heart in the mouth the whole way.”
Making things interesting for Sunday’s race is that Hamilton had to use the soft tyre to qualify from Q2, meaning he will start on that tyre while Bottas and Verstappen will start on the medium compound. While that will give Hamilton better grip at the start, it means the two men most likely to deny him a 91st win on Sunday will be able to go longer into the race before making their first pit-stop.
Bottas claimed his first F1 victory at Sochi in 2017 from third on the grid and he is hopeful of doing similar on Sunday.
“I remember I started once in third here and I know what happened then so, for sure, I’ll try to do the same,” he said. “I really think I have the advantage in the first stint with the medium, so there’s still all to play for.”