Sebastian Vettel leads Ferrari 1-2 in Russian GP qualifying
Sebastian Vettel led teammate Kimi Raikkonen to a Ferrari 1-2 during qualifying for the Russian GP at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia on Saturday.
It is the first Ferrari front-row lockout since the 2008 French GP. It is also the first time a Mercedes won't start on pole since the 2016 Monaco GP and Vettel's first pole since the 2015 Singapore GP.
The Italian team had been fastest all weekend as the Mercedes teammates struggled to come to grips in the final sector.
The Mercedes teammates will start third and fourth with Valtteri Bottas in front of Lewis Hamilton. The top three cars were covered by less than a tenth of a second.
Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa, Max Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg, and the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon will round out the top 10.
Both Toro Rossos were eliminated in Q2 along with Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso, while the end to Q1 was dramatic as both Jolyon Palmer and Pascal Wehrlein spun off in the closing moments. Wehrlein was fortunate enough to avoid the barriers, while Palmer wasn’t as lucky. Palmer had only just made it out into Q1 after the Renault team had changed his engine following final practice.
Carlos Sainz serves a three-place grid penalty for causing a collision during the Bahrain GP and Stoffel Vandoorne has a 15-place grid penalty after taking on his fifth McLaren-Honda power unit of the year.
Unofficial starting grid:
1. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
3. Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
5. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull
6. Felipe Massa - Williams
7. Max Verstappen - Red Bull
8. Nico Hulkenberg - Renault
9. Sergio Perez - Force India
10. Esteban Ocon - Ford India
11. Lance Stroll - Williams
12. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso
13. Kevin Magnussen - Haas
14. Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso (after 3-place penalty)
15. Fernando Alonso - McLaren
16. Jolyon Palmer - Renault
17. Pascal Wehrlein - Sauber
18. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber
19. Romain Grosjean - Haas
20. Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren (after 15-place penalty)
