Lewis Hamilton spoiled what could have been a 1-2 Ferrari start (Leclerc-Vettel) with an extraordinary finish to grab second.
SOCHI, Russia—September 28th—Eighteen years have passed since Michael Schumacher took four poles in a row. The great Schumacher drove for Ferrari, just as Charles Leclerc does today. On Saturday at the Sochi Autodrom, Leclerc replicated Schumacher’s long-ago feat–winning his fourth straight pole for the Prancing Horse–with a 1:31:628 best time. He finished ahead of a last-second surging Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes with teammate Sebastian Vettel finishing in third.
Leclerc (left) and Hamilton talk over qualifying performances (photo, Sky Sports)
“The car felt amazing, and it feels great to be back on the pole,” Leclerc said after qualifying. “But I don’t know whether it is the best track to start on the pole. The straight is very long after the start,” Leclerc commented. “It feels very, very special but I don’t want to think about stats for now. I just want to focus on the job. There is a long way to go tomorrow.”
Leclerc dominated the entire qualifying afternoon. Vettel and Leclerc took the first two sessions. Leclerc’s final attempt with only minutes to go in the last session was perfect as he set the fastest sectors with absolutely no opposition.
Vettel settled into second, which could have been a Ferrari 1-2, Sunday start. But it ended up being 1-3 because Hamilton was outstanding in the final sector and stole second. “I tell you, it was a tough qualifying session,” Hamilton said afterward. “These guys (Ferrari) have some crazy speeds on the straights. I gave it everything I had at the end, and I am so glad it came together. I wasn’t expecting to get on the front row, that’s for sure,” he continued.
Hamilton on Ferarri: “They are on a lower drag level plus they have that power, so we had to try something. The team has done a really good job of putting us in that position.”
Alexander Albon gave Saturday’s qualifying run the only red flag of the day. He spun his Red Bull into the barriers with 6:33 left in the opening session at turn 13. The incident put out a red flag for 10 minutes while marshals removed the car from that part of the circuit.
For Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, it was a horrible final lap. He bounced all over the curbs on the final turn, failing to advance.
But Raikkonen’s fate was better than home driver Dani Kvyat, who never made it to qualifying. Kvyat suffered a Honda power unit issue during the morning’s third practice session.
It was not a good day for five other drivers who failed to move up the grid. Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, Hass’ Kevin Magnussen, Racing Points Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll, and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi all failed to advance to the final session.
On the bright side, Max Verstappen took fourth in his Red Bull, while Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who aborted his final lap in the third session, finished fifth (albeit a disappointment for him and Mercedes).
Despite the resurgence of Ferrari, Hamilton still leads the championship by 65 points with six races to go. A lead he’s hoping to expand on Sunday.
