Leclerc wins fourth straight pole a first for Ferrari since Schumacher ‘01

Sochi has been a Mercedes fortress since it joined the F1 calendar, but Charles Leclerc breached their defences in qualifying for the 2019 Russian Grand Prix with a scintillating lap to take pole position – his fourth P1 start in as many races…

The two-time race winner has looked like the man to beat all weekend and he did not disappoint when it really counted, clocking a 1m31.801s around the Sochi Autodrom to finish four tenths clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel failed to improve on his second lap and was jumped by Hamilton, meaning he’ll start his second successive Grand Prix from third on the grid.

With Alex Albon crashing out in Q1, Red Bull’s sole Q3 representative was Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman finishing fourth – though that will become ninth after his five-place grid penalty is applied for engine component changes.

Valtteri Bottas was scrappy throughout Q3 and aborted his final run, the 2017 winner ending up fifth fastest with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz delivering a stunning final run to end up best of the rest in sixth.

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was seventh, a fraction behind, with Lando Norris eighth in the other McLaren McLaren. Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10.

But the day belonged to a red-hot Leclerc, who took a sixth pole position of the season – the best record of any driver on the 2019 grid

The last time a Ferrari driver took 4 straight poles (Michael Schumacher, 2000/01), Leclerc was 3 years old.

Via F1.com