Saturday, September 25, 2021
First pole in Russia
Sensational trio punished Hamilton’s qualification error
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Lando Norris in the McLaren will start the 15th Formula 1 race of the season in Sochi from pole position. Behind them are Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and, sensationally, George Russell in the Williams. Qualifying ends bitterly for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes – due to a crash in the pit lane.
This qualifying ends with a sensation: Lando Norris drives the fastest lap at the very end and thus takes pole position for the 15th race of the season in Formula 1 in Sochi (2 p.m. / Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker). Behind the McLaren driver, who takes first place on the grid for the first time in Russia, Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and sensationally George Russell in the Williams will line up, who, like in Spa, was able to use the demanding conditions to achieve the level of his actually inferior racing car with driving class surpass.
“I don’t even know what to say. It was a crazy session and in the end we made the decision to go on the slicks,” said a visibly surprised Norris, who confirmed his excellent form after finishing second in Monza. “I am extremely happy and a huge thank you to the team.” Sainz also emphasized the successful tire change: “I already saw in Q2 that there might be an opportunity to pull on the slicks. We had a good strategy, and then I drove a strong lap, a lap at the limit.”
In rain-soaked Sochi, courage and willingness to take risks should be rewarded. Anyone who changed tires early in Q3 in increasingly drier conditions – to slicks – had a clear advantage in the end. Russell had also recognized this: “It just worked really well to put the tires on at the right time. There was really only one good racing line, one that was dry.” The young Briton, confirmed as the successor to Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes for the coming season, once underlined his suitability for larger tasks.
Hamilton fails, Vettel is also disappointed
You look in vain for the World Cup leaders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes series world champion Hamilton only made it to fourth place. He had ruined himself for a better time less than five minutes before the end. At the entrance to the pit lane he crashed into a wall and destroyed his front wing. The repairs took longer and there wasn’t enough time left on the course on the Black Sea. He made it back again, but then he turned and missed the last chance. His team-mate Valtteri Bottas even only made it to seventh place.
The situation was different with Max Verstappen, who had been in the lead up to now. The Red Bull driver did not drive a timed lap in Q1, but only briefly tested his car and then got out early. Due to the fourth engine change of the season, it was already clear that he would be transferred to the very end of the field. In the world championship he is five points ahead of Hamilton. It will be difficult to maintain this lead.
Sebastian Vettel did not make it into the top ten. The four-time world champion finished eleventh in qualifying in his Aston Martin. He just barely made it into Q3, only 0.052 seconds separated him from the decisive tenth place in Q2. “I actually felt very comfortable, the track got better and better, but the last shot did not materialize.” He was disabled by Yuki Tsunoda in Alpha Tauri. That annoyed Vettel, but he emphasized that he should have done it himself beforehand.
Mick Schumacher in the Haas drove quite convincingly in Q1, even if one more time behind the progress. In the end he finished 17th, but distanced his teammate Nikita Mazepin by more than four seconds. A success for the young German, who audibly expressed his joy on the pit radio on the way back to the garage. He also wins at least one place on the starting grid because the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, who was placed in front of him, has moved back because of an engine change.
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