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Lewis Hamilton survived a dramatic qualifying session to put his Mercedes on pole position for the Russian Grand Prix.
Hamilton came within less than a second of falling at the second hurdle – after Sebastian Vettel crashed out in his Ferrari – before making it through to Q3 and then obliterating the opposition.
The world champion finished a staggering 0.563 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Sochi Autodrom, with Valtteri Bottas third.
Hamilton will join Michael Schumacher with the most number of victories in Formula One history should he triumph for a 91st time on Sunday.
However, his pole lap is subject to an investigation with the Briton summoned to see the stewards for allegedly ignoring the race directors’ instructions.
Vettel’s high-speed crash in Q2 led to the most exciting qualifying session of the season in front of tens of thousands of fans as spectators returned to watch F1 for the first time this year.
The quadruple world champion lost control of his Ferrari through the right-handed Turn 4 before slamming into the barriers.
Charles Leclerc was running behind his team-mate and almost collected Vettel, who rebounded off the wall and into the middle of the road. “Oh my God… that was very very close,” said Leclerc as he ran over Vettel’s debris.
Qualifying times
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 31.304secs
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:31.867
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:31.956
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:32.317
- Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:32.364
- Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:32.550
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Renault 1:32.624
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:32.847
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:33.000
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Red Bull 1:33.008
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:33.239
- Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:33.249
- Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:33.364
- George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:33.583
- Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:33.609
- Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:34.592
- Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:34.594
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:34.681
- Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 1:35.066
- Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:35.267
Source: Telegraph
