Marko Hanželic
After the cancellation of the third free practice, the weather in the afternoon was in Sochi however, the repair to the extent that their performance was not in question, however, the racers had to use wet track tires in the first two parts of the qualifications. Even before the start of the qualifiers, it was clear that they would start from the beginning tomorrow Charles Leclerc in Max Verstappen, since they are so at Ferrari as well as at Red Bullu replace the drive unit.
This freed up the opportunity for two extra men in the top ten, and at the same time, Lewis Hamilton has a nice chance to take the lead in the overall standings of the championship in tomorrow’s race. In the qualifiers, after many problems at the end of Q3, he won only the fourth starting position. But let's go nicely in order…
Q1 - Verstappen just checked the condition on the track
Despite the heavy rain in the morning, the track was already quite dry in parts, so everyone wanted to get on the track as soon as possible, as the forecast for the next hours was anything but stable. At the beginning of Q1 it was still a little dewy, but then the rain stopped completely and the times were faster from experiment to experiment, and after the first one it was in the first place Pierre Gasly before Sainz in Leclerc, and the latter was almost hit in his quick attempt Giovinazzi, which took his ass in turn no. 16. The Italian is clearly under pressure because of the seat next year, as he spun yesterday.
Max Verstappen finished the first part of the qualifiers after only seven minutes, so much so that he checked the situation on the track, and in the second attempt Q1 took care of the new fastest time Lewis Hamilton, which usually shines in conditions such as those in the Sochi qualifiers this year. He was overtaken by his teammate Valtteri Bottas, and at the other end of the table, the hair elimination was saved Russell, but they dropped out Räikkönen, Schumacher, Giovinazzi, Mazepin in Verstappen. The difference between Schumacher and Mazepin was as much as four seconds, both Williams however, they advanced in Q2.
Q2 - Both AlphaTauri and Vettel dropped out
The second part of the qualifications also started similarly to the first one - with a crowd at the exit from the pits. The track was getting drier and drier, and yet the conditions were still not stable enough to be able to use dry track tires. Leclerc in Verstappen will join at the tail of the column yet Latifs, since they are from Williams announced that the components of the drive unit will be replaced on his car.
With the first serious quick attempt, Hamilton climbed to the top of the table, and after a failed first attempt, he overtook him by half a second in the second. Valtteri Bottas. Just before the end of the second part, he broke through to third place Alonso, who was ousted from the top ten Gasly, Russell and a few moments later with ninth place Vettla. Ob Latifi in Leclerc, who did not bother to set fast times, dropped out of the aforementioned Hag in gasly ter tsunoda, Sainz in tenth place, however, he saved the outage by 52 thousandths of a second.
Q3 - Norris gets satisfaction for Spa
He set the fastest time in the first attempt Valtteri Bottas, but a few moments later he overtook him by seven tenths of a second Hamilton. The track was drying faster and faster Russell he was the first to decide to take a risk with soft dry track tires. In the first few turns, it all didn’t look too promising, but they soon followed suit Stroll, Ricciardo in Norris.
He also went to change his tires Lewis Hamilton, which, however, crashed into a wall when importing into the pits and destroyed the front wings, which considerably undermined his overall strategy for the last attempt on the track. It's only a minute to the end Carlos Sainz improved his times and climbed to the top, Russell he achieved only the tenth time in his attempt.
Then it all happened very quickly - first he threw the Spaniard off the pole position Lando Norris, a few moments later, he came in third George Russell. Hamilton in the last attempt he failed to improve the time - moreover, the Briton was spinning for the spin, so he will start from the fourth starting position tomorrow.
Lando Norris he thus won his first pole position, which had already eluded him in They connect, will start next to him Carlos Sainz, and in the second starting row, teammates will start at Mercedes next season, George Russell in Lewis Hamilton. They lined up to tenth place Ricciardo, Alonso, Bottas, Stroll, Perez in Or with.
Results - GP of Russia, qualifications
