EL3 in Sochi: Mercedes and Hamilton drive home the point

By setting a time of 1'33''067, the leader of the world championship sets a new record for the 5,8 km track, eclipsing the old reference of 1'33''194 achieved by Sebastian Vettel in 2017. 

As in Free Practice 2, Hamilton precedes his teammate Valtteri Bottas, the second Silver Arrow pointing 0,254s from the Mercedes of head. Both Ferrari by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen evolve in tight formation since only 21 thousandths separate the German from the Finn. The SF71H, however, came in six tenths behind Hamilton's performance. 

Vettel suffered a small scare at the end of the session when he had to stop his Ferrari at the end of the pit lane. The four-time world champion was about to return to the track when the light turned red, forcing Vettel to step on the brakes before dismounting to push his car towards the Ferrari garage.

In ambush on Friday afternoon, the Red Bulls were more discreet on Saturday morning with Max Verstappen in 5th place and Daniel Ricciardo 6th. The bulls of Milton Keynes have known for a long time that they will have to start from the back of the grid due to engine penalties. The Australian also almost hit Vettel's Ferrari when leaving the pits while driving at low speed while his former Red Bull teammate returned to the track. 

Lagging behind his teammates on the opening day, Charles Leclerc lifts its Sauber to 7th position, while Racing Point Force India places its two drivers in the Top 10 of EL3 with Esteban Ocon 8th and Sergio Pérez two places behind. 

La Haas de Kevin Magnussen, officially extended yesterday within the American team for 2019 with Romain Grosjean, is inserted between the two pink panthers. The best Renault, that of Carlos Sainz, must be satisfied with the 11th fastest time, while his teammate Nico Hulkenberg is 14th.

Equipped with an upgraded Honda engine this weekend, Pierre Gasly finished 12th. This Saturday morning, Toro Rosso also confirmed the name of his replacement by announcing the return of Daniil Kvyat. On a circuit that he is not too fond of, Grosjean finished 13th, while grimace soup is once again on the menu at Williams et McLaren in the bottom of the ranking. Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso emerges more than 3,5 seconds behind Hamilton's mark. 

Mercedes thus confirms the promises made on Friday afternoon. The Silver Arrows advance to the qualifying session as favorites. We will remember that Ferrari was in a similar situation in Singapore two weeks ago before being outplayed by a regal Hamilton. Do Vettel and Räikkönen have the resources to break the momentum of the star-studded single-seaters? Start of live response commented on CARhedbo.fr from 15:00 p.m. local time, or 14:00 p.m. in France. 

FP3 CLASSIFICATION: @MercedesAMGF1 on top as we head in to qualifying! #RussianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ZjPCsXSwj4

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2018