Lewis Hamilton came close to being eliminated in Q2 but bounced back to claim pole position for the Russian Grand Prix.
However the Mercedes driver is under investigation for a possible infringement during the qualifying session.
Max Verstappen sprang a surprise in Q3, splitting Hamilton and the other the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas to claim a place on the front row of the grid.
Q1
Within moments of joining the track at the start of Q1, George Russell headed back into the pits to exchange the set of medium tyres he’d started on. “The track is very different,” he remarked as he came in.The track surface improved quickly through the start of the session, making the final laps critical. Almost every driver lowered their times with their last laps. The track was in such better shape that home favourite Daniil Kvyat leapt to third place in his AlphaTauri behind – who else? – the two Mercedes.
Kimi Raikkonen took too much kerb at turn two, which tipped his Alfa Romeo into a spin. The 321-race veteran quickly pulled his car out of the way, ensuring the following drivers – including his team mate – were not delayed.
It briefly looked as though Antonio Giovinazzi’s 1’34.594 would be enough to gain him a place in Q2 for the first time this year. But Romain Grosjean – happier with his car following a fraught final hour of practice, pegged him back by just two-thousandths of a second.
Both had Russell to worry about, however. The Williams driver set a rapid first sector time, which proved the opener to an excellent lap. He crossed the line over a second faster than team mate Nicholas Latifi, securing his place in Q2. Once again, it was Latifi and the four Ferrari customer drivers who dropped out in the first round.
Drivers eliminated in Q1
16 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’34.592 |
17 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’34.594 |
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’34.681 |
19 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1’35.066 |
20 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.267 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q2
The second part of qualifying brought a surprise to begin with: Neither of the Mercedes drivers were on top of the times. Hamilton easily set the quickest time, but ran too wide at the exit of the final corner, and it was deleted for a track limits infringement.
Meanwhile a scruffy lap left Bottas behind Daniel Ricciardo, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Sergio Perez. Unusually, the Mercedes drivers had to run again to secure their places in Q3.
Bottas improved to the second-fastest time. Hamilton was on course to do the same – but as he rounded the final sector the red flags appeared, forcing him to back off.
At turn four, Sebastian Vettel had taken took much of the kerb on the inside, which spat his Ferrari into a barrier. Charles Leclerc, following close behind, had to take evasive action not to hit his team mate.
The session still had two minutes and 15 second left to run, meaning it would be restarted, leaving Hamilton and his rivals sufficient time to get one lap in. However several of Hamilton’s rivals queued up at the pit lane exit before him, and with an out-lap taking well over one-and-a-half minutes, it was clear he would have to make rapid progress to start his final flying lap in time.
Having used medium tyres for his first two runs, Mercedes decided to minimise the risk of not getting into Q3 by putting Hamilton on a set of soft tyres – the less favourable strategic choice for the start of the race. It paid off – just.
Hamilton followed the queue of cars out of the pits, then went off at turn two, losing more time. Race engineer Peter Bonnington warned him he was “currently behind schedule” as he neared the end of the lap. He dived past Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz Jnr and made it to the line just in time. He delivered a clean lap for fourth, securing his place in the final 10.
A frustrated Leclerc was unable to make the final 10, and was eliminated along with his team mate. Russell also went no further and Daniil Kvyat was eliminated too, frustrated by poor tyre preparation ahead of his last run.
Lance Stroll’s hopes of reaching the final 10 ended when he suffered a problem while queuing to leave the pits. The team initially told him to pull his car out of the fast lane, where they are not allowed to touch it, but Stroll said he didn’t have enough space. He was eventually pushed clear.
Drivers eliminated in Q2
11 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’33.239 |
12 | Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’33.249 |
13 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’33.364 |
14 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’33.583 |
15 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’33.609 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Q3
Hamilton was immediately on it in Q3, putting over half a second on Bottas as he provisionally claimed pole position. Bottas wasn’t able to better him with his second effort, and initially looked set to start from the front row alongside his team mate.
But with his final lap of the session, Verstappen produced a superb lap to split the two Mercedes drivers. He took second on the grid, beating Bottas by less than a tenth of a second.
Encouragingly for Verstappen, during the session the stewards announced Hamilton was under investigation for failing to rejoin the track correctly at turn two when he ran wide during Q1. The Haas pair and Latifi are also under investigation for the same infringement.
Verstappen’s late effort relegated Perez to fourth. The four Renault-powered cars follow him, while Pierre Gasly beat Alexander Albon to ninth place.
Top ten in Q3
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’31.304 |
2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’31.867 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’31.956 |
4 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’32.317 |
5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’32.364 |
6 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’32.550 |
7 | Esteban Ocon | Renault | 1’32.624 |
8 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’32.847 |
9 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1’33.000 |
10 | Alexander Albon | Red Bull-Honda | 1’33.008 |
Go ad-free for just £1 per month
>> Find out more and sign up
2020 Russian Grand Prix
- Despite F1 drivers’ concerns, stewards don’t give penalty points for “minor infringements”
- 2020 Russian Grand Prix Star Performers
- “Slower” Ferrari only beat us because of Q3 tyre rule – Tost
- “I may not always get it right” says Hamilton after penalty criticism
- Why did the stewards make their second U-turn this year on a Hamilton penalty call?
Chiz
26th September 2020, 14:25
Just see what they are investigating Hamilton for.
Raised an eyebrow to why they have left it so late to investigate.
What do you guys think?
knightameer (@knightameer)
26th September 2020, 14:26
Valterri Bottas – The living embodiment of Mediocrity.
Jose Lopes da Silva
26th September 2020, 14:29
In 2021 we will see “The Return of Valtteri Bottas 4” in the movies.
frood19 (@frood19)
26th September 2020, 16:06
I’ll see your valterri bottas and raise you Alex albon. That is an astonishing gap to max.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th September 2020, 19:12
@knightameer in hindsight Bottas 2.0 turned out to be a very buggy version of Bottas 1.0. The Windows Vista to the original XP.
Kribana (@krichelle)
26th September 2020, 14:27
For the sake of argument, if Hamilton keeps P1, I wonder if Mercedes instructed Bottas to keep P3. It is easier to get a tow from Hamilton in P1 since he is just behind him, rather than having one of them to move across to give the tow to each other. If Verstappen starts P3, then he could even have a better chance of getting the lead into turn 2. Hamilton starting on softs should get a better launch than Verstappen and Bottas, and I also wonder if this was factored into there as well. If Mercedes wanted them to start 1-2, I was surprised to see Bottas giving a tow to Max. I thought he was going to move over
Bottas has a clear shot of victory tomorrow with Hamilton’s strategy, barring any safety cars. Make it count.
Moi
26th September 2020, 14:33
No. Bottas finished before Verstappen, and was convinced he had P2. He even parked his car at the P2 sign, after which the stewards switched the 2 and 3 sign positions out.
So no great masterplan, just mediocrity I’m afraid.
Aiii (@)
26th September 2020, 14:35
Of course he wasn’t instructed to keep P3. He’s just not a very good driver on Hamilton or Verstappen’s level.
Besides, Max was well behind him for this lap, so Bottas clearly thought he had P2, as did Merc. If that isn’t enough evidence for you, Bottas literally parked at the P2 sign. He and Merc assume they’ll default into the front row.
bosyber (@bosyber)
26th September 2020, 15:08
@aiii Exactly, I mean, Verstappen had a tow from Bottas in S1, one of the reasons he got 2nd (and then he made maximum use of the opportunity with a great lap to make it work, of course) so there is very little manipulation Bottas could have been instructed to do after that. Bottas messed up having a wheely over that curb, that’s where the 1st row was lost to him, before S2 of that lap.
Bonno (@inininin)
26th September 2020, 14:42
How would be be able to do that without knowing the kind of time Verstappen would set? About as stupid as your suggestion that Vettel deliberately crashed to avoid Hamilton matching Michael’s record.
Kribana (@krichelle)
26th September 2020, 14:47
I suggested it because of the amount conspiracies that could occur. Even more given that Vettel consistently spins that he could already know how to execute them. I already said that I did not believe it was deliberate. I just think of all possibilities occurring.
PS: I am still thinking something could happen tomorrow. Something in me just tells me this race will not be a lights to flag easy race for Mercedes.
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
26th September 2020, 20:54
Not everything is a conspiracy. There’s enough action without having to create false suggestions.
sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
26th September 2020, 16:12
Apart from Max and probably Dan, who wouldn’t be beaten by Lewis on the current grid? Charles maybe.
slowmo (@slowmo)
26th September 2020, 14:27
Super qualifying session where they shoot themselves in the foot with the result in doubt again as viewers switch off.
Pieter
26th September 2020, 14:32
Stellar performances by Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez! In my opinion, they really outdrove their cars today and the margin to their team mates confirms it.
kenji
26th September 2020, 15:07
@ Pieter…you can’t outdrive the car. Each and every car has a physical peak as determined by the laws of physics. Those three drivers were just able to get more of the possible peak performance available. Their team mates, for whatever reason, couldn’t extract that same level.
Lun
26th September 2020, 15:46
I don’t think Hamilton outdrove his car like Perez and Max did, its just that Bottas underperformed massively that mercedes could do alot better then 5 tenth up on Redbull on this track
Dean Reynolds
26th September 2020, 14:29
BOOM. When chips are Down, Lewis always delivers! Not sure pole is the best place to be, especially on soft tyres, but… what a lap for pole…TWICE! Think BOT is a victim of trying to be clever. Think he wanted P2 so kept his powder dry… OOPS! Good lap from Max too. Well done young man.
Tom
26th September 2020, 14:33
Good job he’s not starting from pole then! Although I think he’d prefer that to last place.
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:01
Who?
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:58
Hehehehe bet you feel silly! 😀 Hahaha
David Bondo
26th September 2020, 16:28
Settle down mate he beat Bottas who wasn’t that much better than a Massa 6-7 years past his best.
DeanR
26th September 2020, 17:54
Oh David… my dear David. If I need to explain to you how good Lewis is… There’s little hope for you. Still… I like you David. You seem like a nice, sensitive soul.
Lonnie
26th September 2020, 22:14
Hamilton is a no talent hack. His not much better than any back marker driver. It’s his car that’s making him good. If he’s so dandy then put him in a Haas and see what he could do.
Felix
26th September 2020, 14:30
Fia at it again with Ferari leadership now ruining f1
erikje
26th September 2020, 14:31
Max very intelligent made use of the tow created by the passing Bottas.
Excellent drive there.
Ham in a unbelievable fast lap, compared to his teammate remarkable.
Tom
26th September 2020, 14:32
So it’s a recovery drive from Hamilton tomorrow. At least he can choose his starting tyres now because those softs weren’t going to last long anyway. I still expect him to get back up to p5 at least and maybe grab a podium if there’s a safety car to help him out. Botttas has to take his chance to close the gap in the championship but being .7 off today doesn’t fill me with confidence.
knightameer (@knightameer)
26th September 2020, 14:38
Even if he starts P20, Lewis will finish on the podium tomorrow easily. And if Max and Barrichello 2.0 fight a bit he even has a chance at the victory.
Tom
26th September 2020, 14:44
It makes the race much more interesting. Just a shame to get disqualified for hitting a speed bump. I think the best he can do is p3 tomorrow anyway. Had he started from pole on the softs he’d be p3 by lap 2 and needing to pit much earlier than Bottas and Verstappen. He will have plenty of overtaking to do but I still expect an easy top 5 finish from him tomorrow and likely a podium.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
26th September 2020, 14:52
Are you the resident troll? There’s been no decision on Hamilton, never mind that if he gets a penalty, he’ll be at the back of the grid
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:49
Wolley
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:59
Oops! Hehe hehehehe. Lewis on pole. As you were Tom 😀
RP (@slotopen)
26th September 2020, 15:25
I think the biggest deal here is the extra penalty on Hamilton’s license. Doesn’t this put him dangerously close to getting a race ban?
DeanR
26th September 2020, 16:00
Stand down Tom 😀
LB (@burden93)
26th September 2020, 16:04
This didn’t age well!
Adam (@rocketpanda)
26th September 2020, 14:37
I don’t understand how lucky that guy is. I very much doubt he’ll get a penalty.
Mark Saunders (@mcs1)
26th September 2020, 14:46
100% agree. Bottas is so lucky to drive for Mercedes. You are right being 0.65secs slower Mercedes should fine Bottas.
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:03
Hehehe LUCKY? Behave yourself young man! The man is genius. Whenever he is on the back foot he delivers…in style!
f12007v (@f1fan-2000)
26th September 2020, 14:37
wow so max is going to be on pole?
MacLeod (@macleod)
26th September 2020, 16:06
nope!
Patrick (@anunaki)
26th September 2020, 14:39
Just wow what Max did there. Beating Bottas and destroying Albon. Unbelievable
lubhz (@lubhz)
26th September 2020, 15:19
(@anunaki) indeed. And it’s looking embarrassing to Albon, with Gasly outperforming him again in a slower car.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
26th September 2020, 19:14
Verstappen is basically the copy of schumacher at benetton, beating his team mates (who were admittedly average) by seconds and being the only driver to be in contention for win, while his team mate languishes at the back.
Bill
26th September 2020, 14:39
Impressive job by Perez all things considered.
knightameer (@knightameer)
26th September 2020, 14:44
Perez is really performing well. He is faster than his team owner teammate and the guy who replaces him is crashing left and right. Considering all this, he is indeed performing impressively.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
26th September 2020, 14:57
yes, even tough Stroll had a technical issue in Q2 it looked the slower driver this weekend.
Unlike Vettel, Perez seems to put the frustration and disappointment of latest events to good use.
Luis
26th September 2020, 22:59
Indeed impressive considering he did not have the car upgrade for this race.
schooner (@schooner)
26th September 2020, 14:44
When Hamilton wound up at the back of the queue after the red flag, I’d have bet money that he wouldn’t get his lap started in time. Good thing there was nobody else in the room to take me up on it.
LB (@burden93)
26th September 2020, 14:49
I’d be very surprised if he gets a penalty for that, he would have literally had to driven back over a sausage curb to get there. When he went wider the time before he did go around it. I expect it to be a reprimand, but F1 has had an air of artificial-ness recently so anything could happen.
I’m pretty sure i saw others do the same thing during the session but aren’t under investigation? Latifi definitely being one of them.
Bagaman
26th September 2020, 15:08
It looks like it is not the car alone. If it is, Max will not have beaten Botas to second place.
James Coulee
26th September 2020, 15:11
I personally believe Bottas was doing the best he could but, considering his pace on the practice sessions and how it’s notoriously better to start from P2 than from P1 on this track (and how that P2 was so set in his mind when parking his car), I wonder if Bottas wasn’t actually intentionally aiming for P2 and misjudged his pace (or underestimated Verstappen’s).
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:51
My thoughts exactly. He came undone though.
bosyber (@bosyber)
26th September 2020, 15:13
What a very Hamilton sort of qualifying (including the investigation, whatever it ends up at), great lap to get pole on track. And Verstappen, getting maximum opportunity from Bottas’ tow and nailing the lap to get that 2nd place on the first row. Bottas, well, let’s see what he can deliver tomorrow. Perez great job, same for Ricciardo (so close between those two!) and Sainz.
Not sure what happened with Stroll’s car, and Albon seems a bit lost again.
ColdFly (@)
26th September 2020, 15:17
Drive to Survive seems to have picked the right weekend to be a fly on the wall at Mercedes.
David BR (@david-br)
26th September 2020, 16:07
@coldfly True.
erikje
26th September 2020, 16:08
Again, remember Germany last year..
party time…. not.
DaveW (@dmw)
26th September 2020, 15:44
If the tow on the front straight is worth a tenth this is how Verstappen won P2. But it should not have been that close. It just seems like Bottas can’t finish off Lewis when he has him on the ropes in qualifying, just like last week.
DeanR
26th September 2020, 15:57
That’s not Bottas fault. He’s just coming up against a great a the top of his game. Bottas is a decent driver just not at Lewis level…but then no one of this generation is, so a bit harsh to bash Bottas. The only drivers that come close to Lewis during his time in F1 is Alonso and VER.
MacLeod (@macleod)
26th September 2020, 16:08
Bottas gave Max 3 tens for sector 1 and Max won 1 ten for sector 2 and 3.
David Bondo
26th September 2020, 16:27
Utterly incredible effort from Max.
Seems like the Red Bull is the 5th best car on this track behind the Mercedes, Renault, Racing Point and McLaren. RBR could be slightly faster than the McLaren, but no better than 4th fastest.
To stick it on the front row 1.2 seconds quicker than your teammate in the dry is one of the best qualifying performances you’ll ever see.
Bottas bottled it again. The guy cracks anytime he’s under pressure.
Well done to Hamilton for once again proving to us all that he’s quicker than Bottas.
DeanR
26th September 2020, 17:59
Well done to Max for proving, yet again, that he is quicker than Albon. Awwww…I like this interaction we are having David. It’s nice, isn’t it. 😉
DeanR
26th September 2020, 18:00
DOH!
Imre (@f1mre)
26th September 2020, 18:14
David Croft is an awful commentator. He does not understand F1. Hamilton was seven tenths up on P10 after sector 2 in Q2 and Croft says: “It does not look good for Hamilton”. What was he talking about? And it was just one of many.
David BR (@david-br)
26th September 2020, 19:18
@f1mre Sky need an app that filters his remarks and translates them into comments that make sense in this universe, not whatever parallel one he’s always watching.
David BR (@david-br)
26th September 2020, 19:20
(That was a particularly irritating example, it was obvious Hamilton was fine. So he either has no idea what he’s commentating on, or he’s whipping up fake drama. Or like I said, he’s watching something else entirely…)
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
26th September 2020, 20:57
Croft is awful, he has a fantastic knowledge of F1 but is slow to understand events in real time and gets confused far too easily.
W-K (@w-k)
26th September 2020, 19:50
Turn 2 is right handed, Hamilton et al, crossed the apex of a left hand turn
Confused.
aezy_doc
26th September 2020, 20:08
Turn 2 leads into turn 3 interestingly enough! If you run deep/wide at turn two you end up on the inside of turn 3 which is simultaneously the outside of turn 2. But because turn 3 is sooooo looooong, really (if there is one) the apex is a fair way around the corner. So yep, it’s technically both but more like the outside of t2. Sort of.
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
26th September 2020, 20:55
Has the outcome of the investigation been released yet?
F1 frog (@f1frog)
26th September 2020, 21:07
No penalty for Hamilton.
Stephen C Porter Sr
26th September 2020, 21:54
They are going to keep Lewis from matching shumi tomorrow watch and when the new FIA guy starts he is going to favor ferri and invest other
Valhalla
27th September 2020, 5:52
Why didn’t Max receive No Time for his Q2 lap? He was clearly outside the track limits on the exit of turn 5 on his last Q2 lap ( the one the advances him to Q3).