Hamilton returns to pole at Russian GP

Lewis Hamilton confirmed his good performances in Sochi by winning his seventh pole of the season at the Russian Grand Prix. The pilot Mercedes clocked 1'58"513 to beat Nico Rosberg's W05 by two tenths. The first row of the grid will therefore be reserved for Mercedes F1 for the fifth time in a row, but the Brackley team was hot. Valtteri Bottas was in fact constantly in the rhythm of the Flèches d’Argent and only took third place through excessive oversteer in the last meters of his attempt. His teammate Felipe Massa, on the other hand, was less lucky since he encountered mechanical problems preventing him from passing the first session.

Jenson Button completes the second row ahead of an excellent Daniil Kvyat, who achieves his best performance in qualifying at home. The Russian is ahead of second McLaren de Kevin Magnussen, but the Dane will receive a penalty of five places on the grid. Daniel Ricciardo will be the first to benefit even if the Red Bull are in difficulty, as evidenced by the elimination of Sebastian Vettel in Q2. THE Ferrari de Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen discreetly follow the Australian in front of the Toro Rosso by Jean-Éric Vergne.

Sebastian Vettel leads the Force India by Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Pérez, but the German from the Indian team will also have to move back five places. Romain Grosjean only managed to set the 16th fastest time behind the Saubers of Esteban Gutiérrez and Adrian Sutil.