Grand Prix qualifying results: Norris takes Sochi F1 pole

Norris will start ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) and George Russell (Williams) after the one-hour qualifying session, which came down to a final-lap shootout for cars on slick tyres as the track dried enough to allow the dry rubber to be faster.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton will start fourth, but his slick-tyre run was ruined when he hit the wall entering the pits.

Russian Grand Prix qualifying results: Norris on pole from Sainz

Cla	Driver		Time	Gap	km/h
1	Lando Norris		1'41.993		206.414
2	Carlos Sainz Jr.		1'42.510	0.517	205.373
3	George Russell		1'42.983	0.990	204.429
4	Lewis Hamilton		1'44.050	2.057	202.333
5	Daniel Ricciardo		1'44.156	2.163	202.127
6	Fernando Alonso		1'44.204	2.211	202.034
7	Valtteri Bottas		1'44.710	2.717	201.058
8	Lance Stroll		1'44.956	2.963	200.586
9	Sergio Perez		1'45.337	3.344	199.861
10	Esteban Ocon		1'45.865	3.872	198.864
11	Sebastian Vettel		1'46.573	4.580	197.543
12	Pierre Gasly		1'46.641	4.648	197.417
13	Yuki Tsunoda		1'46.751	4.758	197.214
14	Nicholas Latifi
15	Kimi Raikkonen		1'49.586	7.593	192.112
16	Mick Schumacher		1'49.830	7.837	191.685
17	Antonio Giovinazzi		1'51.023	9.030	189.625
18	Nikita Mazepin		1'53.764	11.771	185.056
19	Charles Leclerc
20	Max Verstappen
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What happened in Q1?

Despite fears that qualifying would be washed out after heavy rain in Sochi, the session started on time as planned. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will start the race from the rear of the grid after an engine change, set the early pace at 1m50.292s on intermediate tyres. Moments later he was almost taken out by the spinning Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi.

The Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton took over at the top, before Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took P1 with a laptime of 1m46.455s. Bottas regained top spot with 1m46.396s, before Hamilton beat everyone with 1m45.992s.

Falling at the first hurdle were Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher (Haas), Giovinazzi (Alfa), Nikita Mazepin (Haas) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) who, like Leclerc, will start from the back of the grid after changing his power unit. He did take to the track in qualifying but didn’t set a laptime.

Russian Grand Prix Q1 results: Hamilton fastest from Bottas

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	10	1'45.992			198.626
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	9	1'46.396	0.404	0.404	197.872
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	9	1'46.455	0.463	0.059	197.762
4	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	10	1'47.205	1.213	0.750	196.378
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	9	1'47.238	1.246	0.033	196.318
6	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	9	1'47.828	1.836	0.590	195.244
7	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	10	1'47.877	1.885	0.049	195.155
8	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	10	1'47.924	1.932	0.047	195.070
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	10	1'48.099	2.107	0.175	194.754
10	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	10	1'48.252	2.260	0.153	194.479
11	George Russell	Williams	10	1'48.303	2.311	0.051	194.387
12	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	9	1'48.322	2.330	0.019	194.353
13	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	8	1'48.345	2.353	0.023	194.312
14	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	10	1'48.470	2.478	0.125	194.088
15	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	11	1'48.854	2.862	0.384	193.404
16	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	10	1'49.586	3.594	0.732	192.112
17	Mick Schumacher	Haas	10	1'49.830	3.838	0.244	191.685
18	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	9	1'51.023	5.031	1.193	189.625
19	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	10	1'53.764	7.772	2.741	185.056
20	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	2
View full results

What happened in Q2?

In Q2 the track was drying, with Hamilton setting the early pace on 1m46.096s before Bottas beat it with 1m45.506s and then improved by a further tenth of a second on his next tour. Hamilton eventually worked down to 1m45.129s on his final lap to keep P1.

Knocked out at this point were Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin, by five hundredths of a second), the AlphaTauris of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, along with Nicholas Latifi (Williams) and Leclerc, both of whom didn’t set a laptime due to grid penalties for power unit changes.

Russian Grand Prix Q2 results: Hamilton fastest from Bottas

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	8	1'45.129			200.256
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	8	1'45.306	0.177	0.177	199.920
3	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	8	1'45.514	0.385	0.208	199.526
4	Lando Norris	McLaren	7	1'45.827	0.698	0.313	198.935
5	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	8	1'45.834	0.705	0.007	198.922
6	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	8	1'46.070	0.941	0.236	198.480
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	7	1'46.360	1.231	0.290	197.939
8	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	8	1'46.361	1.232	0.001	197.937
9	George Russell	Williams	9	1'46.435	1.306	0.074	197.799
10	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	8	1'46.521	1.392	0.086	197.639
11	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	8	1'46.573	1.444	0.052	197.543
12	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	9	1'46.641	1.512	0.068	197.417
13	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	9	1'46.751	1.622	0.110	197.214
14	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	2
15	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	0
View full results

What happened in Q3?

With the track now greasy rather than wet, cars ran initially on intermediates. Bottas set the early pace but Hamilton immediately beat him with 1m44.050s. Norris jumped up to P2 in his McLaren, 0.656s off the pace and ahead of Bottas by 0.006s.

Russell was the first to commit to slicks and was followed a lap later by all the others. Hamilton hit the wall as he pitted, breaking his front wing and delaying Bottas’ pitstop too.

Sainz was the first to grab pole on slicks, with a lap of 1m42.510s, before Norris beat him with 1m41.993s. Russell jumped up to P3 and will start ahead of Hamilton, who spun on his only slicks lap and had to rely on his intermediate time.

Daniel Ricciardo will start fifth for McLaren, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Bottas, Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Perez and Esteban Ocon (Alpine).

Russian Grand Prix Q3 results: Norris takes pole

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	7	1'41.993			206.414
2	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	7	1'42.510	0.517	0.517	205.373
3	George Russell	Williams	7	1'42.983	0.990	0.473	204.429
4	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'44.050	2.057	1.067	202.333
5	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	7	1'44.156	2.163	0.106	202.127
6	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	7	1'44.204	2.211	0.048	202.034
7	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	7	1'44.710	2.717	0.506	201.058
8	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	7	1'44.956	2.963	0.246	200.586
9	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	7	1'45.337	3.344	0.381	199.861
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	7	1'45.865	3.872	0.528	198.864
View full results