@ScuderiaFerrari’s @Charles_Leclerc storms to fourth consecutive pole. #F1 #RussianGP
Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90, celebrating after claiming his fourth consecutive pole in qualifying at the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia. Image credit to LAT/Sutton Images.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stormed to his fourth consecutive pole position at the Russian GP in Sochi.
Leclerc posted two flyers during Q3 that were fast enough for the pole and had an advantage of 0.402 seconds over Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who split the two Ferrari’s on his final hot lap.
Once again, the Ferrari’s showed their superior straight-line speed with Leclerc too strong for Hamilton by nearly half a second in the first sector.
Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel held provisional second after the initial Q3 run, but only improved by 0.082 seconds on a scruffy final flyer and settled for third, narrowly 0.023 seconds adrift of Hamilton.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen looked to be a potential threat for pole in the early stages of qualifying but wound up fourth quickest and 0.682 seconds off Leclerc’s benchmark – three tenths ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas.
Verstappen however will start five places back in ninth due to taking on a new spec 4 Honda Internal Combustion Engine.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris qualified in sixth and eighth respectively with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg splitting the duo in seventh.
Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean took ninth with the Frenchman struggling through the first segment of qualifying but delivered an impressive lap in the closing stages of Q2 to make it to the top ten shootout. Grosjean will not start eighth due to the aforementioned Verstappen penalty.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified tenth and was the slowest of the runners in Q3 with the Australian 2.033 seconds off of Leclerc’s benchmark.
Of all in the top ten, both Mercedes drivers will start the Grand Prix on the yellow side-walled medium compounds having used that set during the second qualifying stage while the other eight will run on softs.
Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly wound up 11th although he will also start five-places back due to changing his Honda engine at the start of the Russian Grand Prix weekend.
This means Racing Point’s Sergio Perez is promoted to that position, with the Mexican unable to improve on his second set of tyres during Q2.
Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi qualified 13th and in-front of 14th-placed Haas of Kevin Magnussen with the latter failing to improve on his final flyer in Q2 after running wide at the left-hand turn 15.
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll made a similar error at the same corner as the Dane and also could not improve, leaving him half a tenth behind Magnussen in 15th.
The other Alfa Romeo Racing C38 of Kimi Raikkonen was 16th and quickest of the slowest runners in Q1.
The Finn ran wide on his final flyer, then the rear of his Ferrari-powered C38 racer stepped out on him, which allowed team-mate Giovinazzi to pip him narrowly by less than a tenth.
ROKiT Williams Racing’s George Russell ended up 17th quickest and six tenths off the pace needed to progress to the second qualifying stage as the Briton finished 1.2 seconds quicker than team-mate Robert Kubica.
Kubica however, has a rear-of-the-grid penalty due to putting in a new Mercedes power-train with the Pole sliding off the track at the left hand turn 15 on his final flyer but managed to improve on his second hot lap.
Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon, who carries a five-grid-placed penalty for changing to a new Honda V6 internal combustion engine, ended 19th and was eliminated in the first qualifying stage after spinning into the right-hand turn 13 wall.
The Thai-Briton carried too much speed into the corner after locking the rear of his RB15 racer when starting his braking.
The RB15’s rear spun round before the apex, backing the car into the barrier, which brought out the red flags with six and a half minutes left on the clock during the first qualifying stage.
Home Grand Prix favourite Daniil Kvyat did not take part in qualifying after his Toro Rosso STR14 came to an abrupt halt on track due to an engine issue in FP3.
The Faenza-based outfit opted to change his Honda V6 Internal Combustion Engine, Turbocharger, MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic) and MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit – Heat), but was unable to complete the task in time for Q1.
The Top Three
Pole Position – Charles Leclerc, #16, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “The car felt amazing, it definitely feels amazing to be back on pole. But I don’t know if it’s best track to start on pole! The straight at the start is very long…it definitely feels very special [to get four in a row] but I don’t want to think about those stats now.”
2nd – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W10 EQ Power+: “I tell ya, it was a tough qualifying session. These guys have another level on the straights – jet mode! I gave it everything I had, and the team was able to tinker and push forward. I wasn’t expecting to get on the front row.”
3rd – Sebastian Vettel, #5, Scuderia Ferrari, SF90: “Obviously I’m not entirely happy and extracted the maximum from the car. Turn 1 is a long way, we’re on different tyre strategies compared to the Mercs, personally I need a good start and then you worry about the rest.”
You can see the full Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2019/races/1015/russia/qualifying.html
You can also catch up on the latest news of McLaren’s announcement of a return to Mercedes power in 2021 onwards: @McLaren return to @Mercedes power from 2021 onwards. #F1
Catch up on Free Practice 2 plus some latest news, Free Practice 1 and the weekend’s preview at the following links:
@Max33Verstappen outpaces @Charles_Leclerc in #RussianGP FP2. #F1
@Charles_Leclerc leads @Max33Verstappen in #RussianGP FP1. #F1
