AutoAction
FREE DIGITAL MAGAZINE SIGN UP

LEWIS HAMILTON FASTEST AS DANIEL RICCARDO CRASHES OUT

Lewis Hamilton fastest in Azerbaijan - Photo: LAT

By Bruce Williams

Lewis Hamilton fastest in Azerbaijan - Photo: LAT

Lewis Hamilton fastest in Azerbaijan – Photo: LAT

Lewis Hamilton nabbed pole position in a frenetic end to qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas held the fastest time (1m41.274s) earlier in the session. However, a red flag stoppage after Aussie Daniel Ricciardo tagged the wall at Turn 6 brought a halt to proceedings with a little over three minutes left in the session. The mistake by Ricciardo will see him start from tenth for the race.

When the session resumed it was a shootout to get pole position.

Valtteri Bottas set the early pace - Photo: LAT

Valtteri Bottas set the early pace – Photo: LAT

Bottas, was the first to fire, resetting the mark with a 1m41.027s. However Hamilton, who had been fastest in Q1 and Q2, trumped his team mate with a blistering 1m40.593s.

A late turn of speed for the Ferrari’s saw Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel lock out the second row relegating Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to fifth after sitting third through the majority of qualifying.

Canadian Teenager Lance Stroll out-qualified his much more experienced Williams team-mate Felipe Massa for the first time making just his second appearance in Q3.

Jolyon Palmer was forced to sit out qualifying after a fire broke out at the rear of his Renault during FP3. The issue, believed to be a fuel leak after his crash in FP2, will see the Brit start from 20th.

As for McLaren, Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso will start from the rear of the grid after incurring 35 and 40 place grid penalties for power unit component changes.

Result: Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Qualifying

Position Driver Car Time Gap
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m40.593s
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m41.027s 0.434s
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m41.693s 1.100s
4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m41.841s 1.248s
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 1m41.879s 1.286s
6 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1m42.111s 1.518s
7 Esteban Ocon Force India/Mercedes 1m42.186s 1.593s
8 Lance Stroll Williams/Mercedes 1m42.753s 2.160s
9 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 1m42.798s 2.205s
10 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 1m43.414s 2.821s
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1m43.186s
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1m43.796s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m44.267s
14 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber/Ferrari 1m44.603s
15 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso/Renault 1m43.347s – 3 place penalty
16 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1m44.468s
17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 1m44.795s
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 1m44.334s  40 place penalty
19 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren/Honda 1m45.030s  35 place penalty
20 Jolyon Palmer Renault

Make sure you pick up the next issue of Auto Action for a full analysis of the weekends Formula 1. In the meantime follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for all the latest updates.