Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
Formula 1 Russian GP

Russian GP final practice and qualifying

Live Standings

Stopped

Summary

  • Hamilton fastest in Q1 and Q2, but Bottas snatches pole
  • Out in Q2: Verstappen, Ricciardo, Gasly, Sainz, Hulkenberg - all five stay in the pits
  • Out in Q1: Hartley, Alonso, Sirotkin, Vandoorne, Stroll
  • Promoted: Play along with Pitstop Betting. Download the app today

Live Text

Sort by
Driver, Team
Bottas, Mercedes
Hamilton, Mercedes
Vettel, Ferrari
Raikkonen, Ferrari
Magnussen, Haas
Ocon, Force India
Leclerc, Sauber
Perez, Force India
Grosjean, Haas
Ericsson, Sauber
Here's our full qualifying report, as Bottas beats team-mate Hamilton to pole. Stay up to date with all the reaction to qualifying on Autosport and Motorsport.com this evening, and join us again tomorrow from midday BST for live coverage of the Russian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas beats Lewis Hamilton to Russian Grand Prix F1 pole
"We are looking good, but again every time I say that I want to cross my fingers because momentum is important and it can change quickly," says Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
"What happened?" says Raikkonen. His engineer doesn't know: "You were half a second down on your previous lap."
"It was important to get as close as possible to them," says Vettel. "It should have been a bit closer but not enough to be a threat. I made a mistake in the final sector. I had to try, but it didn't work."
"I'm really happy," says Bottas. "It's only the first step this weekend, it's a massively long run to Turn 1 from the startline."
"I messed up in the last sector," says Vettel. "Turn 15. I think there were one and a half, two tenths, but not enough."
"Alright guys. Good job, that," says a cool and collected Bottas.
Q3 results: 1 Bottas; 2 Hamilton; 3 Vettel; 4 Raikkonen; 5 Magnussen; 6 Ocon; 7 Leclerc; 8 Perez; 9 Grosjean; 10 Ericsson.
Replays show Hamilton running massively wide at Turn 7. He dropped more than a second there, before aborting the lap.
Magnussen has beaten Ocon and Leclerc to claim fifth and best of the rest. Perez, Grosjean and Ericsson (who was somehow 3.8s off) make up the top 10.
Vettel does improve, but he can do no better than third, some four tenths off the front row.
Raikkonen doesn't improve, losing loads of time in the final sector.
It's a 1m31.387s from Bottas, and that should be pole position.
Raikkonen is also quicker than Bottas in the first sector, but Vettel is slower.
Bottas improves in the first sector, but Hamilton is quicker once more, by over two tenths.
Bottas, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Ocon and Vettel start their flying laps.
Everyone - Ericsson included - is now out on track for one final run.
Bottas will be first to start his second flying lap here, ahead of Hamilton and Raikkonen. Vettel will leave it late again.
Raikkonen says he felt "faster on the previous set of tyres".
We should have two pole battles to close out this session - one between the Mercedes cars, separated by 0.004s, and one for the B-class pole (fifth place), which is also incredibly close.
"So basically you are two tenths from P5," says Magnussen's engineer. "I think there is quite a lot of margin in the last sector."
Ocon is fifth, 0.006s ahead of Leclerc. Then it's Magnussen, Perez and Grosjean, while Ericsson is yet to run.
Vettel's first lap is 0.639s off the pace, Raikkonen is within a tenth of his Ferrari team-mate. A miracle is not happening for the Scuderia here.
And Hamilton, coming across the line, is 0.004s slower. Four thousandths!
Ocon sets the initial pace on 1m33.413s, before Bottas fires in a 1m31.528s.
Hamilton is again two tenths up on Bottas in the first sector. He's been quicker there all throughout the day.

By: Geoff Creighton

Published: