Vettel takes pole as Ferrari claim first row at Russian GP
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel grabbed pole position on Saturday ahead of Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for the Russian Grand Prix.
- Sports
- Published Date: 12:00 | 29 April 2017
- Modified Date: 04:17 | 29 April 2017
Sebastian Vettel takes pole position in qualifying for the Formula One Russian Grand Prix with Ferrari taking both spots on the front row of the grid.
Vettel set a lap record of 1 minute 33.194 seconds around the 5.848-kilometre Sochi Autodrom with team-mate Kimi Raikkonen 0.059 seconds behind. Vettel's 47th career pole is Ferrari's first since the 2015 Singapore GP in their first front row lockout since 2008.
Mercedes had lacked the speed of their championship rivals throughout practice and Valtteri Bottas qualified third, nearly 1 tenth behind Vettel. Two-time world champion Lewis Hamilton continued to struggle and was left fourth, more than half a second off the pace.
Vettel, who won in Australia along with Bahrain, has 68 points in the championship standings, while Chinese GP winner Hamilton is on 61 and Bottas on 38 ahead of Sunday's race.