Qualifying report:
Lewis Hamilton took pole for the first ever Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom with a lap two tenths of a second quicker than team-mate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton’s lap of 1:38.513 gave him an 8-7 qualifying advantage over his team-mate and a strong chance of a fourth win on the trot at the business end of the season.
Valterri Bottas produced a superb third for Williams, but will be absolutely kicking himself for not doing better. After being seven thousandths up on Hamilton after two sectors on his final flying lap, Bottas locked up with two corners to go, before the rear end stepped out on him in a major way at the last turn.
Jenson Button showed that McLaren are finally heading in the right direction with fourth, backed up by team-mate Kevin Magnussen in sixth.
Perhaps the driver of the day though, was Daniil Kvyat. The focus of so much attention heading into his home grand prix, and one week after being announced as a Red Bull driver for 2015, the young Russian produced his best performance of the year, putting his Toro Rosso fifth, ahead of his team-mate and both Red Bulls.
Daniel Ricciardo follows in a grip-less seventh, followed by the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen. Kvyat’s team-mate, Jean-Eric Vergne, was comprehensively outshone, and will line up tenth.
Hamilton earlier topped Q2 with a 1:38.338, but the big shock was Sebastian Vettel falling short and qualifying 11th. It’s been a difficult weekend for Red Bull, with sister team Toro Rosso generally looking stronger, and Vettel’s result was simply a reflection of the team’s struggles as opposed to any specific reliability issues; the man himself noting it was simply a lack of rear grip.
Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez put their Force Indias 12th and 13th, with Hulkenberg to start 17th following his gearbox penalty. The ever-improving Saubers were next up with Esteban Gutierrez 14th and Adrian Sutil 15th. Romain Grosjean’s endless struggles continued, fundamentally lucky to even be in Q2, and even then, not threatening those ahead and qualifying 16th.
Hamilton completed his set by also topping Q3 with a 1:38.759. Marcus Ericsson continued his recent run of good form with an outstanding 17th for Caterham, falling just short of making Q2 at Grosjean’s expense. Team-mate Kamui Kobayashi then completed a good day for the Leafield team with 19th. Between them was a hysterical Felipe Massa, repeatedly heard expressing his frustrations at an apparent power shortage on his Williams that left him 18th and eliminated.
Pastor Maldonado experienced similar unreliability on his Lotus, late out of the pits and back there after only one lap, qualifying a lowly 20th. The Venezuelan will start last though, due to the engine penalty he has carried over from Japan. On a day where just taking part was an epic achievement in the circumstances, Marussia’s sole representative, Max Chilton, qualified 21st.
Qualifying times:
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’38.513 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’38.713 |
| 3 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’38.920 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’39.121 |
| 5 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’39.277 |
| 6 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1’39.629 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’39.635 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’39.709 |
| 9 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’39.771 |
| 10 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’40.020 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’40.052 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’40.058 |
| 13 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’40.163 |
| 14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’40.536 |
| 15 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’40.984 |
| 16 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’41.397 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1’42.648 |
| 18 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’43.064 |
| 19 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1’43.166 |
| 20 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’43.205 |
| 21 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1’43.649 |
