Lucky Lewis: Hamilton Barely Escapes Q2 to Take Russian Grand Prix Pole

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli

Understanding that the word ‘chaotic’ could be used to describe many aspects of the 2020 Formula 1 season, qualifying in the series in the first nine races had concluded in a generally humdrum manner due to the talent and execution of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. As the series arrives in Sochi for this year’s Russian Grand Prix, there has not been a qualifying session in 2020 that did not result in an all-Mercedes front row on race day. 

One-half of the Mercedes-AMG F1 team’s routine of qualifying dominance came with Lewis Hamilton’s 96th Formula 1 pole position. Lapping the 5.848-kilometer race course in a time of 1-minute, 31.304 seconds in Q3 (a new track record in Russia), Hamilton is still seeking his 91st career victory in Formula 1 that will tie seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in the all-time ranking. 

Spoiling the Mercedes-AMG F1 team’s ownership of the front row for the first time in 2020, Max Verstappen posted a 1-minute, 31.867-second lap time in his Honda-powered Red Bull Racing car. Verstappen effectively split the two Mercedes drivers by being 0.089 seconds quicker than Valtteri Bottas who was able to mount a last-minute lap to better an earlier time. Starting alongside Bottas in Russia will be the Racing Point of Sergio Perez. Perez’s teammate Lance Stroll didn’t advance into Q3 due to concerns of power unit temperatures in Q2 settling for a 13th place starting spot.

Although the final Q3 session that locks in a race grid is often granted the most attention on Saturday, time trials for the Russian Grand Prix contained some of the highest suspense in the earlier sessions. Q1 and Q2 sessions of Saturday qualifying at Sochi involved several drivers having times disallowed for exceeding track limits including the eventual pole winner. With roughly two and a half minutes left in Q2, the attempts to secure a spot in the top-10 fastest cars were hindered when the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel crashed in turn 4 of the Sochi Autodrom. Vettel’s wrecked vehicle required the qualifying session to be red-flagged setting up a mad rush by many drivers and teams when Q2 would be restarted. The time remaining in the session was just enough for some drivers to complete a warm-up lap ahead of a timed lap. Lewis Hamilton lost his earlier Q2 lap time but was narrowly able to post a fourth fastest time before the session ended. In fact, Hamilton crossed the start/finish line with only seconds to spare in his Mercedes AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance race car. 

The seventh Russian Grand Prix in the modern Formula 1 era will be a 53-lap affair on Sunday.

2020 Formula 1
Russian Grand Prix
Starting Lineup

Four-For-Four: Rosberg Conquers Russian Grand Prix in Perfect Season Start

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA

In the first two grand prix events held at the Sochi Autodrom, the late season placement in the Formula 1 schedule meant the race served as a locale where the final statements of a season's worth of effort was filed. Repositioned to the early part of the 2016 Formula 1 season, the Russian Grand Prix weekend as the fourth race on the calender meant the teams arrived in Sochi with less understanding on their performance abilities. After events of the first three races in the 2016 season, this year's outing in Russia on the 19-turn, 5.853-kilometer track was 53 laps of increased uncertainty.

Last year, Lewis Hamilton's win at the Russian Grand Prix was a near-decisive victory for his third championship. Hamilton would later win the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas to official claim the 2015 World Drivers' Championship. Since winning the title, Hamilton has been struggling while his Mercedes AMG teammate Nico Rosberg has been on an all-time career high. Winning the last three races of 2015, Rosberg has also claimed victories in the first three events of 2016. Taking the pole at the Russian Grand Prix for a second-straight season, Rosberg was intent to explore better luck than a lap 7 retirement suffered at last year's Russian Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA

Accepting the 2016 Russian Grand Prix a new possibility for victory, the Mercedes AMG race car in the hands of Nico Rosberg took full advantage of the start to position the Williams-Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in his rear-view mirrors. For the second consecutive event, Lewis Hamilton suffered a power unit problem in qualifying. An issue that presented itself in the Q3 session, the unavailable power in meant Hamilton started 10th. Through a well-executed start, the reigning world champion had climbed to 5th place.

Not every driver experienced the fortune that found the #44 Mercedes AMG car. In fact, a chaotic opening launch claimed three cars even before they could complete a single lap. The Manor-Mercedes of Rio Haryanto, the Force India-Mercedes of Nico Hulkenberg and most notably Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari experienced a very short 2016 Russian Grand Prix. In the case of Vettel, it seemed a five grid position penalty for a gearbox change accrued after Friday practice was extremely costly. At the start, the Ferrari came under immediate attack from the Red Bull Racing machine of Daniil Kvyat. As the Russia native fought to present a strong showing in front of his home country fans, his ambitions led to two rear collisions on Vettel's Ferrari resulting in the red car's race ending the wall. Ruled at-fault for the incident, Kyvat was assessed a 10-second stop and hold penalty in the race on lap 8. The wild start to the Russian Grand Prix led the safety car to be called onto the track for several laps.  

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA

Shortly after the safety car returned to pit lane, the leading Mercedes AMG pulled off to a vast lead before the first pit stop. As the race progressed, the one-stop strategy Pirelli predicted was undertaken by the majority of the field. Rosberg pitted on lap 21 and eventually ended up with a 12-second lead. The second place position would change as a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton soared by the Williams-Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas under DRS after his pit stop and before the midway point of the 53-lap event. Though Hamilton was able to initially close-in on his teammate, the interval widened as Rosberg soon bettered his own pace.

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

At the end of 53 laps, a comfortable 25.022-second lead gave Nico Rosberg the confidence of claiming his fourth win in the four grand prix races of 2016. Other drivers who has started a Formula 1 season by winning the first four races include Ayrton Senna in 1991, Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 1994 as well as in 2004. In every one of those examples, the driver has gone on the win the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship. Although the 2016 season is still young, the German has compiled 100 points and outranks second place in the season's standings by 43 points.

Runner-up in the race after a masterful recovery, Lewis Hamilton being overshadowed by his teammate has been a change following recent past seasons. The contentiousness of the Mercedes AMG drivers is certain to carry through in 2016. Even Rosberg recognizes Hamilton is likely to be force as this Formula 1 season continues.

While one Ferrari SF16-H was forced out early in the Russian Grand Prix, the second team car posted a competitive effort with a podium finish. Crossing the finish line a little under 7 seconds after Lewis Hamilton, Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen posted has recorded two podium results in the three races following his fiery end at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Williams Martini Racing claimed the two highest non-podium positions at the end of the 2016 Russian Grand Prix with Valtteri Bottas in fourth place leading Felipe Massa who finished fifth. So far this season, the Williams Martini Racing drivers have achieved one impressive feat that allows them to hold the same begging rights as the Mercedes AMG drivers. In the first four races, Bottas and Massa have collected points in every grand prix outing.

The top-10 results for the Russian Grand Prix saw some striving Formula 1 race teams posting great finishes. Scoreless in the constructor standing entering Russia, McLaren left with a double-point scoring result as Fernando Alonso brought his Honda-powered MP4-31 car across to the chequered flag sixth while Jenson Button fought to grab the race's final point in 10th place. In 7th place, the Renault Sport Formula One Team formed from the remnants of last year's Lotus F1 Team took a monumental first set of points. Team veteran Kevin Magnussen claimed his first Formula 1 points since Brazil of 2014 when he drove for McLaren. Sergio Perez took ninth place after 53 laps also collecting his first point-scoring finish for 2016.

In eighth place, Romain Grosjean continues a miraculous 2016 Formula 1 with a race team that was built largely from stretch. The Ferrari-engined race car of the Haas F1 Team wheeled by Grosjean has scored points in three of the first four grand prix events. Haas F1 Team is currently ranked in fifth place in the Constructors' Standings currently ahead Toro Rosso and McLaren in the point tally

For the first time since last season's Japanese Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing has left a grand prix without scoring points. A dubious result that has only happened a total of four times since the start of the 2011 season, the both Red Bull-TAG Heuer cars had a poor result in Russia despite encouraging starting positions. While Daniil Kvyat's early race drama ultimately led to his 15th place result, Daniel Ricciardo's also sustained damage in the opening lap. Both Red Bull Racing cars operated on a two-stop strategy that failed to provide the team with the edge to claim a top-10 result. To Kvyat's credit, he did take full responsibility for the rough start and apologized.

The next race on the 2016 Formula 1 tour is the first race on Europe continent. The Spanish Grand Prix is scheduled for May 16th on the Circuit de Catalunya.

2016 Formula 1
Russian Grand Prix
Race Results

1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
3 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari
4 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
5 19 Felipe Massa Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
6 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
7 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault Renault
8 8 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team Ferrari
9 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes-Benz
10 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda
11 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG Heuer
12 55 Carlos Sainz Jr Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
13 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault Renault
14 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari
15 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull TAG Heuer
16 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari
17 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team Ferrari
18 28 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Mercedes-Benz
19 33 Max Verstappen Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
20 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari
21 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes-Benz
22 98 Rio Haryanto Manor Mercedes-Benz

Rosberg Rolls to Russian Grand Prix Pole Position

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

Moving from the latter half of the Formula 1 schedule to the fourth event on the race calender for 2016, the 5.853-kilometer circuit hosting the Russian Grand Prix during a budding 21-race season. The first pair of Formula 1 races held at the Sochi Autodrom, the Silver Arrows have struck a bullseye when it comes to finding victory. Lewis Hamilton took the Mercedes AMG team to the inaugural 2014 event and the race last year. Qualifying has also been an all-Mercedes AMG affair with Hamilton claiming the 2014 pole and Nico Rosberg claiming the top spot for 2015.

In qualifying for the 2016 Russian Grand Prix, the Silver Arrows duel again showed supremacy. Posting a track record-setting 1-minute, 35.417-second lap time, Nico Rosberg continued to demonstrate strong early season form that was first formulated late last year. The lap result on his first timed lap in Q3 was more than enough to resist competitors as well as a wheel lock-up on his second lap that resulted in an aborted run. Rosberg will start on pole in an attempt to maintain a perfect win record for 2016. The last driver to win the first four races at the start of a Formula 1 season was accomplished by Michael Schumacher in 2004 on route to his seventh and final World Drivers' Championship.

For the second race in a row, the outing was not a complete success for Mercedes AMG. Once again, defending World Driving Champion Lewis Hamilton has had a time trial cut short due to a power unit problem with his race car. However, compared to the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying, the damage was minimized as the issue only affected the Q3 session,. Second fastest in Q2, the Mercedes AMG of Lewis Hamilton was unable to set a time in the final timed grouping but will start 10th.

While Sebastian Vettel was able to post the second fastest time in Q3 (a time 0.706-second slower than Nico Rosberg), the German will be regulated to 7th place for the Sunday main event due to a gearbox change on Friday. Despite the transmission issue, Vettel and Ferrari appear to be showing some optimism in the early part of the 2016 season. The second Scuderia Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen will start in third place following the demotion of his teammate.

Photo Credit: Ferrari S.p.A.

The Sochi track has also proven to be a breath of fresh air for the Williams Martini Racing team. The Mercedes-Benz engine powered race cars driven by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas have not been able to build on the team's 2014 effort. In fourth-place in the constructors' standings so far this season with 29 points, both Williams Martini Racing drivers will start close to the front Sunday. Bottas acquires the front row starting spot alongside Nico Rosberg while Massa is positioned directly behind his teammate in 4th place.

Daniel Ricciardo leads the Red Bull Racing squad with a 5th place starting spot. Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull-Tag Heuer machine will launch from 8th place tomorrow. Racing in his home country, the crowd gave a big cheer when the Russian Kvyat succeeded in a late charge to participate in the Q3 run.

The 53-lap Russian Grand Prix is set for 3:00 pm local time (8:00 am in the Eastern time zone). With a weather forecast calling for a dry, sunny and springtime warm Sunday event, Pirelli is anticipating the use of a single pit stop strategy.

2016 Formula 1
Russian Grand Prix
Starting Grid

Pos # Car # Driver Team Engine

1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
3 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari
4 19 Felipe Massa Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG Heuer
6 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes-Benz
7 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari
8 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull TAG Heuer
9 33 Max Verstappen Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
10 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
11 55 Carlos Sainz Jr Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
12 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda
13 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes-Benz
14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
15 8 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team Ferrari
16 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team Ferrari
17 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault Renault
18 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault Renault
19 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari
20 28 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Mercedes-Benz
21 98 Rio Haryanto Manor Mercedes-Benz
22 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari