F1 Russian Grand Prix: 5 Talking points from qualifying

After an exciting Singapore Grand Prix, Formula One headed to the Sochi Autodrom for the Russian Grand Prix on 30 September 2018. Lewis Hamilton leads Sebastian Vettel by 40 points in the championship, leaving the German no choice but to outperform the Briton in all the remaining races of the season.

The Russian GP qualifying session is done and dusted and was very interesting to watch as it saw some obvious misses along with a few surprise inclusions in the top-10. The Red Bulls were not in the top-10 due to the grid-penalties while the local driver Sergey Sirotkin endured yet another disappointing session and will start the race from the back of the grid.

With the way the session played out, another Mercedes victory at the Sochi Street Circuit is all but certain as the Silver Arrows were miles ahead of the competition, and in this article, we will look closer at the qualifying session and understand the five most important talking points of the session.

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#5 Sauber makes it to top-10

Both the Saubers feature in the top-10

The absence of Red Bull and Renault in the final qualifying session opened up spots for a lot of midfield teams to start the race from higher on the grid. All of them used this situation to their advantage and moved higher on the grid.

The biggest beneficiary from all this would be the Sauber team as the constructor managed to put both the cars in the top-10. Leclerc, who had a decent race at the Singapore Grand Prix that saw him finish ninth, would be hoping to finish higher at the street circuit as he would start the race from the seventh spot. Marcus Ericsson, on the other hand, finished tenth and would be hoping to score points and move away from the bottom of the grid.

#4 Renault playing it clever with tyre strategy

Renault didn't make it to Q3

Renault made an interesting move during Q2 and didn't even put a single flying lap that session, which came as a surprise to many as Renault had a very good chance to put both the cars into Q3.

This move guaranteed the team 11th and 12th places on the grid for Sunday's race. Renault seems to be happy with the move as it would not necessarily have to start the race on hypersofts, which would allow them to have a longer first stint.

This is a clever move by the French team as both the cars have suffered from high levels of tyre wear throughout the season, and starting the race from 11th and 12th with a harder compound could allow the team to score valuable points and move further away from Haas in the championship table.

#3 Ferrari is clearly slower than Mercedes

Ferrari trailed Mercedes in all the three qualifying sessions

Ferrari, who seemed to have a faster car for the better part of the 2018 season, struggled at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia.

It wasn't only qualifying, the Prancing Horse was at least half-a-second slower than the Silver Arrows during practice, as well. Ferrari and Mercedes introduced new aerodynamic packages to their cars, but from qualifying, it is clear that the German team has an advantage over Ferrari.

Sebastian Vettel was 0.556 seconds slower than Hamilton, while his teammate Raikkonen was 0.850 seconds slower than the championship leader.

#2 Kevin Magnussen's magnificent P5

Kevin Magnussen secures a surprise P5

The absence of Renault and Red Bull in Q3 opened up places for Force India, Haas and Sauber in the top-10. However, no one expected Kevin Magnussen to lap quicker than both the Force India machines and take a brilliant P5.

The Danish driver had a fantastic last lap, which sealed his fifth place with a comfortable 0.232 seconds lead over Force India's Estaban Ocon. Along with him, Romain Grosjean too had a decent drive and will start the race from ninth on the gird.

Haas has a very good chance of closing the gap to Renault in the fourth place; however, with Red Bull and Renault starting the race on harder compounds, the American team is in for a challenge on Sunday.

#1 Bottas is still the man to beat in qualifying

Bottas takes pole at the Russian Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas out-qualified his teammate yet again at the Sochi Autodrom. Through the years, the Finn has produced some impressive qualifying displays at the Russian Grand Prix and this year was no different.

Bottas was second to Lewis Hamilton in both Q1 and Q2, but a resurgent drive by the Finn in the final qualifying session saw him pip the Briton by 0.145 seconds for a memorable pole position, which was his second of the season.

Mercedes locked the front row of the grid, and if history is anything to go by, expect yet another dominating performance by the Silver Arrows at the Sochi Street Circuit.