Britain’s brightest young stars shone through the rain and gloom of qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix. With McLaren’s Lando Norris claiming his first pole and George Russell in third. Lewis Hamilton, was in their wake, however, disappointed and apologetic after a highly unusual error left him in fourth place.
Hamilton held his hands up after he clipped the wall on the entrance to the pitlane. “It was a mistake. I am incredibly disappointed in myself,” he said. “Up until then I was in the groove, I was in the zone. That is not what you expect from a champion.”
Norris and McLaren were rightly ecstatic after grabbing the top spot. After their first win for nine years at the last round in Monza, Norris has now gained their first pole since 2012. He delivered with timing and precision to master tricky, wet and drying conditions with an ease and confidence Hamilton would recognise, finishing a full half-second up on the second-placed Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. “It was tough. I am going to make myself sound good but it was tricky,” said Norris. “The lap before, I was two seconds down and I was not confident we would improve. I kept the tyres warm, I risked quite a bit, but it paid off. It is my first pole position and hopefully the first of many.”
Norris is still only 21 and is now the youngest British driver to take pole, while Russell is 23. Both are in their third season in F1 and their performances confirm these are two of the most promising young drivers in the sport.
Dutchman Max Verstappen has a five-point lead in the championship but will start at the back of the grid because of penalties for taking his fourth power unit. This was Hamilton’s chance to regain the lead with a big points haul. He may yet win but a pole would have made it far easier. In the final minutes of Q3, Hamilton hit the wall on his way back into the pits and took damage to his left-front wing, which had to be replaced. Mercedes got him out but only with enough time to put in one quick lap.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was in 15th but, having taken a fourth new power unit, will start from 19th. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi also took new power unit components and was in 14th but will start from 18th. Sebastian Vettel was in 11th for Aston Martin with the AlphaTauris of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda in 12th and 13th. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Antonio Giovinazzi were in 16th and 18th, with Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin in 17th and 19th for Haas.