Not long now.

It's the three softest compounds in the Pirelli locker available today. No one is liking the softs, but after some Q2 drama, that's the one Lewis Hamilton has to start on today.

Image source, Pirelli Motorsport

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who starts from 10th today: "I am very, very motivated to try and do a good race. We have the opportunity to choose the tyres from where we start so hopefully we can benefit.

"It is very warm today so tyre management will be a big thing. The main focus will be on this."

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who starts 15th after crashing in qualifying yesterday: "I am fine the car is fine too, the mechanics did a good job fixing it up overnight."

On helping marshals remove debris from his crash yesterday: "The session was still going on and there was some time left so I wanted to make sure I cleaned the track, there were a lot of marshals though and they were quicker than me.

"If you leave a mess normally you rake care of it yourself and clean up."

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, EPA

Not for the first time - and almost certainly not for the last, either, this year - Saturday was not a good day for Ferrari. Charles Leclerc was looking OK - he was comfortably inside the top 10 in sixth on the first runs in first qualifying, so much so that Ferrari felt confident enough not to send him out for a second run.

It worked - just - he slipped down to 14th at the end. But it all went wrong in Q2. He was ninth after the first runs, and on his second lap was following right behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel when the German crashed at Turn Four. Leclerc came so close to being caught up in the shunt, but just managed to avoid it. Then, in the mad dash at the end, there was a miscommunication with the team.

"They told me that I had Ocon behind me, about one or two seconds from me,” Leclerc said. “Instead, I think it was further back, I think I had more margin. Now I am angry [as] everything is still fresh. I have to calm down. The race is where they will award points. But for me, it's a difficult weekend. In practice I hadn't driven well, then I started to find the rhythm in qualifying. But I was not able to show the potential of the car, and I'm sorry.”

Vettel had been ahead in final practice, but the 180-degree change in wind direction left him uncomfortable with the car in qualifying. He’d already made a mistake in Turn Two before the final one in Turn Four. He has now been out-qualified by Leclerc seven times in a row.

We've reached enough races for this to count as a world championship season no matter what. Lewis Hamilton has an immense 55-point lead in the driver standings.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, EPA

It was a major surprise to see Max Verstappen split the Mercedes in the Red Bull and team boss Christian Horner reckoned it was one of his best laps of the season. “It felt really good,” Verstappen said. “Trying to find the right balance because I was actually struggling quite a bit throughout qualifying to really nail all the entry speeds, because I was oversteering a lot.

"So, step-by-step I think we were doing a better job. Q3, run one was a bit better but the second run, made a few changes and that just gave me a little bit more grip and, on this track, you really need a lot of entry grip, so yeah, that was very satisfying. It was a really nice lap to drive. It’s not pole position but for me, to be on the first row, I definitely didn’t expect that going into qualifying.”

The key was a smart move in letting Valtteri Bottas past him at the end of the Finn’s qualifying lap, so Verstappen could get a tow from the Mercedes down the straight at the start of his, so negating the Red Bull’s straight-line deficit.

But can he challenge the Mercedes in the race? In the last two races - ever since the new rules restricting teams to one engine mode for qualifying and race - Verstappen has dropped places as a result of engine problems off the line, and subsequently retired. “I would like to have a good start, and by start I mean once I go full throttle to have full power, that would be nice and then not get taken out,” he said pointedly. “After two retirements I think it’s good to score some points again.”

Team-mate Alex Albon was a perplexed 10th, not able to explain the second gap between them, but suspecting some of it it was down to tyre temperature. And he has a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change as well, so will start 15th.

As always we want you to get involved so tweet us with all your thoughts / hopes / expectations on today's event. Tweet us using #bbcf1. Go on.

Formula 1 is set to stage the biggest sporting spectator-event of the Covid-19 era with up to 30,000 fans expected at today's Russian Grand Prix.

The F1 season has taken place behind closed doors, but 3,000 spectators were admitted to the Tuscan Grand Prix in Mugello earlier this month.

Fans in Russia will be encouraged to wear face masks and observe social-distancing guidelines.

The Sochi Autodrom can host up to 60,000 spectators so no more than half full, but will be the biggest crowd at F1 so far this season by far.

This has been an incredible effort from all involved to ensure we could have any kind of Formula 1 season in these crazy coronavirus times. We are up to race 10 of a potential 17 and another step closer to normal today...

Image source, F1

Image source, Getty Images

There are two Hamiltons racing this weekend with Lewis Hamilton's half-brother Nicolas, who was born with cerebral palsy, competing in the British Touring Car Championship at Silverstone while Lewis Hamilton is racing in Russia.

"He is on the brink of securing his seventh world title which is incredible," Nic Hamilton told BBC Sport.

"I always dreamed I would have a race weekend on the same weekend as his. I never thought I would be able to drive, I was told I would never walk. To be standing here today, unaided and driving a British Touring Car is fantastic.

"To do this at the same weekend as Lewis is a proud moment for the Hamilton family."

Nic Hamilton also spoke about how proud he is of Lewis for using his platform and profile to fight for racial equality and justice.

"I was already proud before any of this, when we played games at home I was just as proud of him," he added.

"Lewis has really developed as a personality, as a character, as a driver, he is like a fine wine it seems he gets better with age and stronger. To be a figurehead away from motorsport as well is fantastic because he is transcending his sport.

"To be inspiring people away from the sport is truly incredible."

Williams' George Russell is yet to score a point in his Formula 1 career but he continues to impress in qualifying. That's six times into Q2 and a first point not far away surely.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Lewis Hamilton sealed a 96th pole position at the Russian Grand Prix on Saturday - remarkably, he looks like he can reach a century this season - and now has the chance to set a record-equalling 91st victory.

But he’s going to have to do it the hard way. Not only is he concerned about being slipstreamed down to the first corner, but he’s also on a disadvantageous strategy starting on the soft tyre, after a chaotic qualifying session, while Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas behind him are on the favoured medium. This might be far from Formula 1’s greatest venue, but there is plenty of intrigue going into this race.

So you've seen the times from yesterday, but that's not how we start as Red Bull's Alexander Albon and Williams' Nicholas Latifi have both been handed five-place grid penalties, meaning we start like this...

So Lewis Hamilton continues to find a way of sticking his car on pole, no matter what has happened before him.

Incredibly, he could reach 100 pole positions and that could come as quickly as in Turkey in the middle of November.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, .

Lewis Hamilton took a dramatic pole position at the Russian Grand Prix despite coming within a second of qualifying down in 15th.

Hamilton had no time in the second knock-out session when it stopped after Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel crashed.

It was restarted with just two minutes and 15 seconds left and Hamilton made it to the line with a second to spare.

But in the final session Hamilton was flawless as Red Bull's Max Verstappen pipped Valtteri Bottas to second.

Hamilton was 0.652 seconds quicker than team-mate Bottas, while Verstappen took his place on the front row 0.563secs behind the world champion.

Hamilton can equal Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91 Grand Prix victories this weekend.

Read Andrew's full report here.

Hello everyone and welcome along to BBC Sport's coverage of the Russian Grand Prix.

I'm Michael Emons and will be talking you through all the action today.

We start a bit earlier than normal today as it's lights out at 12:10 BST and we will have live radio commentary from just before that.

Lewis Hamilton on pole. So another routine day? Not necessarily. Hamilton nearly had a qualifying disaster and he starts on the softs so will have to pit a lot earlier than all his rivals. Also, a tow into the first turn could be a massive benefit to Max Verstappen in second.

We've had a couple of amazing races in a row. We could well be set for another classic.