Qualifying

Hello and welcome to ESPN's coverage of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix from the brand new Sochi Autodrom circuit.

Lewis Hamilton topped FP3 this morning, despite a late spin. But he seemed to be far more comfortable on the soft compound than team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg.

The tyre deg has been an interesting one this weekend so far. The soft tyre, especially, seems to take anywhere between three and five laps to his its maximum. Crucially in the sessions we've seen so far, Hamilton seems best at turning those tyres on quickest. Valtteri Bottas also looked very impressive in FP3 this morning.

McLaren's impressive Friday seemed to disappear a bit this morning, with Kevin Magnussen now facing a five-place penalty for a gearbox changed incurred after a stop on track this morning. Nico Hulkenberg also has a give-place penalty for a change of his own, while Pastor Maldonado has five places left over from the penalty he incurred in Suzuka.

And now hearing Max Chilton is set for a five-place penalty for a gearbox change after FP3.

That's a big shame for Chilton, and indeed the whole Marussia team, on what is a very sombre weekend for that team.

We've got five minutes to go until qualifying. I think this is a straight shoot-out between the Mercedes drivers for pole but don't write off Bottas or Massa getting themselves on that front row.

Can you believe there are only four races left of this season? It seems like it's flown by, but that could just be me.

I'm curious to see if both Red Bulls get into Q3 this weekend having looked woefully down all weekend so far - even behind sister team Toro Rosso in practice so far.

The GP2 race has been reduced by two laps over fears about high fuel consumption, so imagine that to be an issue here tomorrow with limited tyre deg slowing the drivers.

The session is go and Romain Grosjean is the first man to head out on track.

Hamilton heads straight out on soft tyres, which is interesting. Though the teams certainly won't be short of tyres this weekend with such limited tyre degradation - many teams predicting a one-stopper this weekend.

Button and Magnussen the only cars out on the medium tyres. Everyone else on the yellow-striped soft tyre.

The times start tumbling, with Sutil posting a 1:42.573 to go P1 early on.

The times start tumbling, with Sutil posting a 1:42.573 to go P1 early on.

But Button leaps ahead of the Sauber driver by six tenths of a second. The 2009 world champion on the medium tyre, remember.

The Force India drivers have also come out on the medium tyre, interestingly.

Hamilton's first lap puts him a second faster than Kvyat - who has looked good all weekend - but then Rosberg nips in seven tenths up on his team-mate. The new benchmark a 1:39.292, great lap from the German.

Kobayashi runs wide at Turn 2 and carries on. Doesn't look like there's much of a penalty for doing that.

"Nico, we expect that's good enough to go through but we'll definitely do a lap three," Rosberg is told, so Mercedes clearly still trying to glean some data from the track at this stage.

Magnussen rose above Button by 0.003s in those early stages. Nothing to choose between those two at the moment.

Button improves on his last time, he's still on the medium tyre of course, moving to within 1.6s of Rosberg. Alonso jumps into P3, with Kvyat slotting in behind him. JEV moves behind Button in fifth. Toro Rosso looking good.

Hamilton has returned to the top, as well, with a 1:39.282 but Rosberg has posted a fastest middle sector.

And indeed, he goes fastest, going two tenths faster and that should be that for the Mercedes drivers. That's more than enough to keep them both in the top two, let alone the top 16.

Ricciardo has just started a hot lap, let's see if Red Bull can claw something back in this session after looking off the pace all weekend.

Magnussen has gone back out on a set of soft tyres, no sign of whether Button will come out with a set of his own. The Force Indias has also bolted in some soft tyres on both its cars.

Perez goes into fifth on one of those soft-tyre runs, while Ricciardo goes eighth - a full two seconds down on Rosberg.

Bottas slots into third, he's the only driver to move into the 1:39s. That puts him seven tenths down on Rosberg.

I was wrong about Mercedes, both drivers have stayed out and Hamilton is on an absolutely stonking lap out there.

And Hamilton lowers the benchmark to 1:38.759, going purple in all three sectors.

Hamilton's quickest time from the morning - the fastest all weekend - was 1:38.726 so he's not far off that at the moment.

Massa complaining his engine is not working properly. Only he and Maldonado yet to set a significant time within the 107% requirement.

Ricciardo has dropped to 13th in all of that, with Vettel running as high as eighth. The stand-out name at the moment is Kvyat in sixth, 1.7s down on Hamilton's benchmark.

This is a lovely touch.

Hamilton and Rosberg return to the pits. Everyone else still out there.

Maldonado has improved to 17th but still no sign of improvement for Massa, who replaces the Lotus driver on the timing screens. He's got two minutes to get back to the line for another lap, those engine problems hampering Massa then.

Magnussen and Button back to their Friday position, fourth and fifth. Both have set their fastest time on the soft tyre, too, so Button did come back out.

Massa complains "I cannot do anything" with the engine in its current state. He's going to get to the line in time for one final lap, Williams tells him they are doing everything to sort the problem.

A massive four seconds separating Hamilton and the drop zone.

Massa has some clear air for this flying lap. Grosjean currently just safe in 16th.

"Sorry about that Pastor. A complete shambles," comes the radio communication to Maldonado. He is back in the pits and out of this session.

Massa can't improve on his time and Ericsson improves to 17th! Wonderful effort from the Caterham driver at the end. Massa finishes 18th, then. Big upset early on in this session.

Massa asks Williams why they didn't bring him into the garage, but he's told the team didn't have time.

So the resurgent Ericsson, who has come under scrutiny from many in F1 circles, including ESPNF1's live blogs, out-qualifies his team-mate and Marussia for the second straight weekend.

Other than Massa, it's the usual suspects down there. Ericsson, Kobayashi, Maldonado and Chilton down there. Frustratingly for Maldonado, that means he will carry another three places of that penalty over with him to Austin. The penalty given to him in Suzuka....

A good indication of just how much Massa was struggling there. Big job now for Williams to get on top of that for tomorrow but, with overtaking opportunities at a premium, it could be a tough race tomorrow for Massa.

Q2 is underway and Perez is the first man out on track.

We can expect soft tyres from here on out, and the track is getting busier already.

Mercedes warned about their rear tyre temperatures. Both its drivers out on track.

Seems everyone except from Sutil and Gutierrez are on fresh soft rubber.

Vettel or Grosjean the only men yet to emerge from the garage.

Perez sets the early benchmark, a 1:40.163, six tenths up on Hulkenberg.

Ricciardo slots in between the Force Indias, three tenths off Perez.

Button jumps up to P1 now with a 1:39.393, two tenths up on his Q1 time already.

Rosberg lowers the benchmark further, four tenths quicker than Button with a 1:38.979.

Seeing replays of Kvyat running deep at Turn 11.

Magnussen jumps ahead of his team-mate, just a tenth down on Rosberg. McLaren seemingly back to their Friday form then....

Bottas takes P1 by just 0.008s but he stays there for just a few moments, as Hamilton lowers the benchmark by a huge six tenths. The new benchmark a 1:38.338.

Hamilton absolutely on it once again in this session. A full 0.641s clear of Rosberg.

Vergne climbs to eighth fastest. Kvyat also on a very good lap of his own.

McLaren improves on his time, he's 1.043s down on Hamilton.

Alonso and Vettel both unable to improve on their times down in the drop zone but they have six minutes to improve.

Ricciardo tells Red Bull he's still struggling with understeer, so a lack of front grip an issue.

Kvyat has lept up to sixth. Toro Rosso excelling while Red Bull struggles.

Alonso two tenths up on his current lap. Could be in for a real scramble in the closing laps here.

Alonso goes green in every sector and rises to seventh. To give you an indication of track evolution, he's now dipped into the 1:39s mark.

There's going to be so little to choose from in that scramble for the top ten. Raikkonen improves to eighth, less than a tenth down on Alonso.

Ricciardo moves up to sixth fastest. Both Mercedes drivers back in the garage - they are 1.8s clear of the drop zone currently.

Clear the track is getting quicker and quicker out there as Vergne improves on his time, going ninth. Real chance for both Toro Rossos to get into Q3. Vettel still down in 15th and struggling for pace.

Mercedes and McLaren has its drivers in the pits. Everyone else on track.

Vettel has dropped behind the two Saubers.

Bottas is out on another lap and really flying....

But he can't improve after a slower final sector. Alonso improves on his time to move four tenths away from the drop zone. Raikkonen now on the verge, Perez and Hulkenberg looming.

Vettel in real trouble out there with half a minute left.

Raikkonen improves to ninth, pushing Vergne down to 10th. Lots of drivers still out there to complete a lap as the clock expires, so it's now or never for the likes of Vettel.

Perez can't improve, however, and he will be eliminated from this session.

Vergne can't improve on his time so he could be in trouble out there with Hulkenberg on a good lap.

Vettel can only manage 11th! So the reigning four-time world champion is out.

Hulkenberg, who is set for a five-place penalty, jumps ahead of Perez for 12th.

So Vettel four tenths down on Ricciardo, who as I mentioned earlier, has a habit of really pulling a lap out of nowhere when he needs to. Both Toro Rossos make it through to Q3 as well.

So, those dropping out of the session are Vettel, Hulkenberg, Perez, Gutierrez, Sutil and Grosjean.

Ricciardo's real strength seems to come from his ability to hook together a quick lap in these circumstances. He'll do well to be on one of the first three rows in Q3, I think.

So Hulkenberg will start from 17th after he has served his grid penalty.

It would be a brave man who didn't bet on a Mercedes pole out there. Bottas could be a good bet to get on the front row, though.

The clock is ticking on the 12-minute session and we're underway, with a lot of activity early on. The Ferraris among the first cars out on track.

All ten cars are out on track.

All soft tyres for this session too.

With the track evolution here, an early "banker" lap might not have the same importance as previous circuits.

Every driver on a fresh set of softs, too.

Raikkonen sets the first benchmark, a 1:41.518.

Ricciardo now slots into P1, though it's a 1:40.076, slower than his Q2 time.

Hamilton continues where he left off as his first lap puts him into P1, setting a 1:39.946, but Rosberg jumps above him by a full second.

Bottas has improved to second, just 0.216s off Rosberg, with Button three tenths down. Seems Hamilton lost time coming out of Turn 8 on his run.

So once again, Rosberg's banker lap once again puts him in a strong position in this session. Magnussen has a bit of a wobble and runs wide at Turn 6.

Button is back in the pits but everyone else is still out there. Hamilton has just gone purple through the first sector.

Ricciardo's latest lap puts him fourth, six tenths off Rosberg.

Hamilton struggling a little bit with the rear end of his car but he jumps into provisional pole by nearly three tenths. That's a 1:38.647, but Rosberg has just gone quickest middle sector.

But Rosberg loses four tenths through the final sector and can't improve on second, and now Bottas is just 0.010s behind the German in third.

Kvyat currently sixth, a second down on Hamilton but within a tenth of future team-mate Ricciardo.

"Does look like the track is dropping away," Peter Bonnington tells Hamilton. The temperature hasn't changed much, so that's odd. This track is full of mystery, it seems.

Worth noting Button is up there in fourth, which will have pleased him if you'd offered it to him on Friday.

Magnussen struggling and only tenth - and he's set for a grid penalty too.

The only colour on the timing screens is yellow, with no-one improving on any time anywhere around the circuit. Ricciardo complains about his rear tyres and returns to the pit lane.

Well Hamilton now goes purple through the middle sector, but Bottas has done the same through the first sector!

Hamilton shaves another tenth off his provisional pole time, lowering it to 1:38.513.

Bottas on a very, very nice lap though. The clock has expired, Hamilton passed just in time for another lap...

No! Bottas runs wide at the final corner! He was on to put that Williams on the front row AT LEAST! He could have snatched pole there, what a shame for the Finn.

Kvyat puts his Torro Rosso into fifth as Magnussen pushes Ricciardo into seventh. Impressive from the rookies there.

So Lewis Hamilton will start from pole for tomorrow's Russian Grand Prix.

"OK Lewis, nice work mate!" says Bonnington to Hamilton. The Mercedes drivers were both slower in Q3 than at any other point in qualifying.

Kvyat's fifth position his best-ever qualifying performance.

Well then, it's another front row lock out for Mercedes but it could have been so different had Bottas not made that late mistake on his own flying lap. He was definitely on to beat Rosberg, and possibly on the verge of pole position. But he will have to settle for third alongside Button.

As ever, thanks for joining us for this qualifying session and please do come back tomorrow for the Russian Grand Prix.


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