The story so far in the 2018 Formula One season has been all about the Prancing Horse. Since the opening race in Australia, Ferrari has been a force to be reckoned with. For the team’s latest achievement, Sebastian Vettel has claimed his third consecutive pole position for tomorrow’s race.
As an example of the team’s pace, the German drivers first run in Q3 was enough to secure and maintain the position. His time, a 1:41.498, was enough to stave off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by 0.179 seconds. Vettel’s second run in the closing moments of Q3 looked to be faster still, but came undone after a lock-up through Turn 3.
Behind Vettel sits Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for Mercedes. The Brit, second in the world championship, finished a few tenths ahead of his teammate — the first time since Australia. As it appears, neither driver looked to have an answer to Ferrari’s pace. Trailing Vettel by nine points, Hamilton will be intent on closing the gap further.
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen sit fourth and fifth for Red Bull. It will be interesting to observe the team’s tire strategy for tomorrow’s race. With strong winds set to be a factor tomorrow, could this play into Red Bull’s hands?
Had it gone his way, Kimi Raikkonen looked to have the answer to Vettel’s original lap. Setting the fastest times in the first two sectors, the Finn threw it away exiting Turn 16. With his Ferrari stepping out, the move cost Raikkonen and Ferrari a very likely 1-2 start.
Dejected, Raikkonen shook his head in disappointment on the way across the line. He’ll start from sixth tomorrow, behind the Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Verstappen. To make matters worse, Ricciardo benefited from his slipstream, propelling him to fourth. Not a good day from the Finn’s perspective any way you look at it.
However, Raikkonen does have one trick up his sleeve: ultrasoft tires. Following an incident in Q2, the Finn starts tomorrow on the softest compound. If he’s able to get ahead of the five drivers in front of him, he can recover. Those ahead of him made it through Q2 on supersofts and have a bit of ground to lose should Raikkonen push hard.
Force India drivers Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez both ended their Q3 dry spells for the season. Ocon, while a second off the pace, starts tomorrow ahead of his teammate in seventh. Perez tucks in behind him in eighth ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. Unfortunately, due to a gearbox change, he’ll serve a five-place grid penalty. Teammate Carlos Sainz will assume his position on the grid.
Rounding out the top 10 is Lance Stroll for Williams, thanks to Hulkenberg’s penalty. This is the first time Williams starts in the top 10 all season. Not only that, both Stroll and teammate Sergey Sirotkin advanced beyond Q1 for the first time in 2018.
While an uneventful qualifying, Azerbaijan is no stranger to talking points. Today was no different as Toro Rosso duo Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley almost collided in Q1. Hartley, who was crawling through Turn 14 due to a tire puncture, was almost collected by his fast-approaching teammate. Luckily, Gasly was able to avoid the worst outcome thanks to lightning fast reactions.
In the end, the incident spelled the end for both drivers in the opening session. Gasly starts from 17th, while Hartley starts further down in 19th. If last year’s race is anything to go by, tomorrow’s Grand Prix may be the season’s craziest yet.
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