Ferrari’s
Sebastian Vettel clinched the last minutes best time of the qualification
session on Saturday to win the pole position ahead of the 2017 Formula One
Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.
The
four-time F1 world champion from Germany showed the best lap result of 1 minute
34.493 seconds. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen clocked the second best result,
thus putting both Ferraris on the first line of the starting grid for the
Sunday GP in Sochi.
"I
think it's been a mega qualifying. The car was really nice to drive and it's a
track when the car comes alive it's really pleasant," Vettel told
journalists after winning the pole position.
Asked
how important it was to have his teammate Kimi alongside on the front row of
the starting grid tomorrow, Vettel said "Well, if I could choose I would
put Kimi alongside and I think he would say the same."
The
37-year old Finnish racer from Finland, Raikkonen, who won the F1 World
Championship in 2007, was heading Saturday’s qualification in Sochi until the
very last minute of the session. He was about to conquer the pole position
after an almost decade-long pause, as the last time Kimi started a race from
the top position was way back in 2008 at the French Grand Prix, but Vettel
managed to beat him by only 0.059 seconds.
"Obviously
the aim is to be on the front," Raikkonen told journalists. "The
feeling has been more better this weekend and now we just got some traffic on
the pout lap on the last set and couldn't really make the tyres work as well as
the first run and it was a bit more tricky."
Team
Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton finished the Saturday
qualification in the third and fourth places respectively.
Speaking
after the qualifying Bottas, who joined Team Mercedes this season coming from
Williams, said Ferrari was at the higher level than Mercedes throughout the
weekend, but the second line of the starting grid was also good and the
starting lap of the race tomorrow would see which team is better.
"To
be honest all weekend they (Ferrari) have had the upper hand and they have been
able to extract much mire, especially from the ultrasoft tyre, and that's where
we really struggled yesterday," Bottas told journalists. "We made
improvements for today but obviously not quite enough."
"As
always, tomorrow is the day that really counts and I think a second-row start
is that much of a bad thing - it's a pretty long run into Turn One," the
Finnish driver, who stepped on the third step of the podium at the inaugural
Russia GP in 2014, added.
Russia’s
Daniil Kvyat from Scuderia Toro Rosso will start his home race from the 13th
position on Sunday afternoon.
"After
this morning's FP3 (Free Practice, Session 3), I'm happy with my result in
today's qualifying session," Kvyat said commenting on his performance
during the qualifying. "The car has been difficult to drive all weekend
and we also had a few issues this morning which we couldn't completely solve
for qualifying."
"But
I drove well and I'm happy with my lap. Tomorrow we will try our best to fight
for points!" the 23-year-old Russian added.
With
comfortable temperatures soaring above 20 degrees Centigrade (over 70
Fahrenheit) this week in Sochi, team Ferrari was dominant during three practice
sessions on Friday and Saturday with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Rakkonen
clocking the best lap times and leaving behind in the third and fourth places
drivers from their main rival Team Mercedes.
Beginning
with Russia’s first-ever F1 race in October 2014 the trophies of Sochi went to
Team Mercedes’ drivers.
The
inaugural race in2014 was grabbed by Lewis Hamilton, who held the grip in
Russia on the title next year again showing the best result in winning the
Russian GP.
His
teammate Nico Roseberg broke the spell of victorious Lewis, winning the race
last year and eventually getting the world champion's title.
This
year Russia holds its fourth FIA Formula One racing Grand Prix in Sochi from
April 28 to April 30.
Source: http://tass.com/sport
