Russian Grand Prix qualifying live

Summary

Bottas on pole, Hamilton 2nd, Vettel 3rd
Little action in Q2 through engine penalties, McLarens out in Q1
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Live Reporting

Niamh Lewis

Who saw that one coming?published at 14:06 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Q3
After what I wrote earlier regarding Bottas' competitiveness this season, maybe he had the smelling salts today, instead of Vettel.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
Postpublished at 14:03 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Bottas' engineer: "POLE. Good job, good job."
Bottas: "Alright guys, I enjoyed that let's do it tomorrow."
Pole positionpublished at 14:01 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Q3
Blimey... Bottas on pole!
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 14:00 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Just a minute to go...
Bottas is still top for now, while the rest finish their flying laps.
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Raikkonen
5. Ocon
6. Leclerc
7. Magnussen
8. Perez
9. Grosjean
10. Ericsson
Postpublished at 13:59 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Romain Grosjean has secured himself another year in Formula 1 with Haas, but he doesn't mind a spin or collision. Seventeen of his 137 races have ended early that way, but still nowhere near as bad as Pastor Maldonado's record.
Daniil Kvyat, who is returning to F1 with Toro Rosso, does not crash or spin maybe as much as you may think he does.
Image source, .
Postpublished at 13:59 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Q3
It's nice to see Grosjean in Q3. He's secured his 2019 season at Haas, alongside Kevin Magnussen.
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Get Involvedpublished at 13:57 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
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Jeremiah Kariuki‏: Five cars that should have run in Q2 opted not to. Two Red Bulls have grid penalties and thus no need for further qualifying. Renault opted not to run to save on tyres. These kind of strategies are not good for fans who pay to watch races.
Martin Norden: Russian GP qualifying has turned F1 into a farce, if the cars don’t go out then they should start at the back of the grid. If you don’t want to participate opt out in Q1 not Q2.
And then...published at 13:55 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
6. Leclerc
7. Magnussen
8. Perez
9. Grosjean
10. Ericsson
'Brilliant'published at 13:55 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live
Such a gulf between the Mercedes and the Ferraris. Ferrari just have nothing more to play with. That was a brilliant lap from Bottas. Four thousandths of a second is nothing, but that is what is giving him provisional pole.
Postpublished at 13:54 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Bottas on provisional pole. Followed by:
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Raikkonen
5. Ocon
Image source, Getty Images
'I went too wide'published at 13:53 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Sergey Sirotkin went out in Q1 but will start 13th. Speaking to Sky Sports, he says: "We knew where our limitations are.
"It was a steady lap but not enough to get out. I didn't think it would be good to go out without trying. I went too wide, clipped the astroturf."
'How can Hamilton not be on pole?'published at 13:52 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator
There are weekends when Lewis Hamilton pulls it out of the bag, but there are weekends, like now, when you think how can Lewis Hamilton not be on pole?
Image source, Getty Images
Postpublished at 13:52 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
So, Bottas fastest, followed by his team-mate Hamilton.
Postpublished at 13:52 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Daniel Ricciardo says: "I'm optimistic to get a good bag of points but it all depends on how the tyres fare and the weather because it's not very warm.
There was a lot of tyre degradation in the GP2 race earlier today, so it will be interesting."
"I’m positive, I think we’ll be alright in the race but with the amount of degradation everyone is getting I think we can pick our way through the field."
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Get Involved #bbcf1published at 13:51 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Jeroen Demmendaal‏: Hard to put into words how much I hate this bland, boring, tedious Sochi circuit. The sooner it goes the better.
Jeremiah Kariuki: With the devastating pace from Hamilton, only a disaster can deliver front row to Ferraris!
We're off for Q3published at 13:50 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Q3
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Postpublished at 13:50 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Max Verstappen says after Q2: "The car is good, qualifying was good but we have to make sure we have a clean race and clear tyre strategy tomorrow, and we should get back to P5 and P6 by the end.
"The car is better than expected we are closer. We lose on the straight but make up on the corners.
"A good birthday present would be a good start and making up some places."
'F1 painted in a weird light'published at 13:50 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator
This paints F1 and the sport in a weird light when you have drivers not needing to go for it with engine penalties and drivers not wanting to be in the top 10 because the tyres are so rubbish.
Postpublished at 13:49 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
So, Verstappen, Ricciardo and Gasly all have engine penalties, which means regardless of whether they got into Q3, they will start near the back tomorrow anyway.
For the Renault boys, they didn't go out in Q2 because they knew everyone ahead had engine penalties and they would inherit 11th and 12th on the grid for tomorrow.
Some interesting strategies there, resulting in a lack of on-track action. Oh well - rules are rules.
Image source, Reuters
It's a wrap for Q2published at 13:48 British Summer Time 29 September 2018
The Mercedes are still leading.