Russia – Qualifying: Charles Leclerc claims his 6th pole position!

Q1: Red flag after Alexander Albon’s crash!

The Ferraris were the first to take to the track. Vettel, like many drivers, missed his braking at the thirteenth corner and had to abort his lap. Robert Kubica spun there, but the most impressive incident was Alexander Albon’s crash. Arriving with too much speed, the Thai driver spun and crashed into the barriers, breaking his rear wing and likely other parts of the car. This crash caused a red flag.

19th due to his mistake, Sebastian Vettel came back out with 6 minutes 30 remaining and set the fastest lap of the session in 1’33’032. Lewis Hamilton was 0.2 seconds behind the German and Verstappen 0.3 seconds. The gaps in this Q1 were relatively close.

Kimi Räikkönen, both Williams with Russell ahead of Kubica, and finally Albon were stuck in Q1. Due to several issues with his Honda engine, Daniil Kvyat was not automatically able to take part in qualifying. Due to penalties, the Russian was starting from the back of the grid anyway.

Q2: Ferrari in great shape

This second part of qualifying was much calmer than the first. No major off-track incidents to report. The two Ferraris occupied the top two positions in Q2 with Charles Leclerc having the advantage by 0.1 seconds. Verstappen was 3rd, ahead of the two Mercedes.

Romain Grosjean was the surprise guest for Q3. The best of the rest, the Frenchman finally managed to reach the Top 10. He was the best of the rest ahead of the two McLarens and the two Renaults. Only 3 tenths separated 6th to 10th place.

The ones eliminated were therefore Pierre Gasly, who with a 5-place grid penalty, preferred not to advance to Q3 in order to choose his tires for the start. We can say it’s a mission accomplished for the Norman who qualified 11th. He is followed by Sergio Perez, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kevin Magnussen, and Lance Stroll.

Q3: Pole position for Charles Leclerc

From the start of the session, Ferrari, but more specifically Charles Leclerc, set very fast times. 1’31.801 for the Monegasque. In 3rd, Lewis Hamilton was over 0.5 seconds behind.

Sebastian Vettel was unable to beat his garage neighbor and was even beaten by Lewis Hamilton by 25 hundredths. The poleman is therefore Charles Leclerc with a time of 1’31’628. He is the first Ferrari driver since Michael Schumacher in 2001 to secure four consecutive pole positions.

The disappointment of this qualification is clearly Valtteri Bottas. For the first time in his career, the Finn was beaten by his teammate in Sochi on Saturday. And not by a small margin, the Mercedes driver finished a full second behind the leader. Like Lewis Hamilton, he will start the race on soft tires, which could be an advantage tomorrow.

Carlos Sainz did a good lap in 1’33’222, earning him the place of best of the rest on the grid. Nico Hülkenberg finished a few thousandths behind the Spaniard. Romain Grosjean delivered a strong performance for Haas. He will start the race in 8th place thanks to Max Verstappen’s 5-place penalty.