Sochi – Qualifying: Felipe Massa 6th between the Red Bulls
Felipe Massa once again shone at the wheel of his Williams, making Q3 for the fourth time in succession. He will start from 6th position, sandwiched between the two Red Bulls. Lance Stroll qualified in 12th position on Saturday in Russia.

Felipe Massa demonstrates consistency by qualifying for Q3 again, securing the 6th position this weekend. He even manages to position himself between Daniel Ricciardo (5th) and Max Verstappen (7th). His young teammate experienced a slightly different outcome – even though he seemed close to Q3 – by getting stuck in Q2 in 12th place. He continues his learning – on this circuit that he is discovering – and will start from 11th position, following Carlos Sainz’s penalty incurred at Sakhir (a consequence of their race incident).
Felipe Massa Q3: 6th (1:35.110)
The Paulist demonstrated the potential of his single-seater on a lap this Saturday. He confirms that Williams remains “the best of the rest” behind the top three teams and could even disrupt the Red Bull drivers by being interspersed. However, he remains almost two seconds from pole position.
Felipe Massa was more than satisfied with his session. He is already ready to fight for the next day’s race: « It was a tremendous qualifying session for us. It’s so nice to see that we are in the middle of the two Red Bull drivers. They were better than us in both qualifying and race pace in the first three races. But it’s a good track for us and we will fight with them. »
It’s with full motivation and enthusiasm that he concluded: « I’m happy with the starting position but I’m also happy with the idea that tomorrow, maybe, we will be fighting with them (Red Bull) again. I will do everything I can. I’m really motivated and I hope everything goes well so that we have a good race. »
Lance Stroll Q2: 12th (1:35.964) => 11th Sunday
On his side, Lance Stroll was a bit more disappointed with his qualifying session, as he could have – perhaps – been higher on the grid, considering his teammate’s result. The 2016 Formula 3 Champion struggled to get his tires working at the right moment.
« It was a bit unfortunate in the end, because I think Q3 was possible. But I missed it at the end of my lap in Q2 (more than 2 tenths off the 10th place). I failed to do my out-lap as I wanted, and here it’s very important to get the tires to work properly. »
He reflects on his flying lap: « I had a good start to the lap, then I lost a lot of grip in the last sector, leading to some mistakes, then I lost the rear, which wasn’t ideal. I had a few tenths, but I couldn’t hold onto them. »
The management and functioning of the tires will be key for tomorrow’s race according to the Canadian. He hopes to have more success (three retirements in three races): I think this weekend is relatively tricky with the tires to get them to work properly, but we can start the race from the 12th position (11th). It’s a long race tomorrow. We’ll see what happens, and hopefully, luck will be more on our side.