Rosberg wins pole position in Sochi
Nico Rosberg was impressive during Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix qualifying at Sochi Autodrom and won pole position for the race on Sunday. This is his fourth pole position this year and 18th in career. Mercedes was absolutely dominant in this session as Lewis was second.
Rosberg had a furious start with a lap time of 1:38.343 what surprised the reigning champion, but also motivated him to push harder and gap between Mercedes drivers was quickly reduced to just 0.2s, with Sebastian Vettel just behind them.
Because of a huge crash during FP3, Carlos Sainz missed qualifying but he will be ready for the race on Sunday. Out of second round of qualifying was Manor’s pair Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi, Marcus Ericsson in Sauber and Fernando Alonso in McLaren who will start from the bottom of the grid due to engine upgrades penalty.
Mercedes was dominant and Rosberg was on top again with a lap time of 1:37.500 what was 0.172s better than Hamilton’s lap time, while Valtteri Bottas was 0.694s behind. Felipe Massa had a very disappointing session and was out of the last qualifying round, together with Pastor Maldonado, Jenson Button, Felipe Nasr and local favorite Daniil Kvyat.
In the last round Rosberg continued with impressive driving and secured pole position with a lap time of 1:37.113, 0.3s ahead of his teammate and championship leader. Valtteri Bottas was third, leaving Vettel on fourth and Kimi Raikkonen on fifth place.
Nico Hulkenberg was sixth, Sergio Perez seventh and Romain Grosjean eighth, while the places in fifth starting row are won by Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
