Sochi Qualifying: Rosberg too good for Hamilton

Nico Rosberg took his second consecutive pole position and his third of the season in Sochi, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the front of the Russian Grand Prix grid by three tenths of a second, third place in the session went to Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.

“I am very happy,” said Rosberg. “It has been a difficult weekend because of the little running we got. I got some very good laps in and I am happy with that.”

“I am just enjoying being on pole at the moment. The constructors championship is a really important target for us again this weekend, at the same time I am out to reduce the gap on Lewis,” added the German.

Hamilton summed up his session, “I did go for my second lap I just did not finish it," explained Hamilton "I made a mistake at Turn 13. A difficult weekend for everyone but Nico did a great job with his lap. Overall I am very happy and it is great for the team. This is not such a bad race for P2.”

Bottas said, “Third is a good place to start. It has been tricky for everyone with limited practice.”

The first segment of qualifying saw Rosberg go quickest with a lap of 1:38.343 that left him just over a tenth of a second ahead of Bottas.

Hamilton was third fastest ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa in the second Williams.

Sixth was Lotus’ Romain Grosjean ahead of the second Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Mercedes pair managed to get through Q1 using only the soft tyres.

Eliminated after the opening 18 minutes were McLaren’s Fernando Alonso in P16, followed by Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, the Manors of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi and Toro Rosso’s carlos Sainz, who did not take part in qualifying after a heavy crash in final practice saw him hospitalised but uninjured.

Alonso missed out on a Q2 berth by just a tenth of a second, with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr edging the Spaniard with a lap of 1:40.042. Jenson Button did make it through in the other McLaren, however, and the Briton ended the segment in 14th place behind Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado, Force India’s Sergio Perez and the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat.

Mercedes again dominated in Q2 with Rosberg holding top spot with a lap of 1:37.500. Hamilton was again second, 0.172 behind the German, with Bottas third with a time of 1:38.194.

In the drop zone as the segment entered its final two minutes were Ricciardo in P10 followed by Nasr, Button, Maldonado and Massa who had run well wide on his previous flyer and was winding up for a final attempt at progress.

Ricciardo was the first to clamber to safety, the Australian posting a lap of 1:39.005 to eventually make it through to Q3 in ninth place.

His team-mate Daniil Kvyat was not so lucky, however. The Russian was in P9 as the final runs began and as the time began to alter around him he swiftly dropped to P12. He found more pace on his final run but a slow middle sector meant he didn't find the necessary improvement and he was the first of the drivers eliminated at this stage, in P11.

Local hero Kvyat reflected, "I did my best. Quite pleased with what I have done. We had time for only one lap on each set of tyres. It's disappointing but nothing I could do."

Behind him Nasr was also ruled out of Q3, with Button 13th ahead of Maldonado. Massa, too, failed to find an improvement, with the Brazilian saying that traffic on his [previous] lap had cost him time.

"I had two laps behind traffic and by the time I had a clear run my tyres had gone. It's really frustrating," Massa told reporters afterwards.

With the drivers finding it difficult to get temperature into their supersoft tyres on the smooth surface it was the second flying lap of each run that provided the quicker lap and after the first runs of Q3 Rosberg again held sway, his time of 1:37.113 leaving him a significant three tenths of a second clear of second-placed Hamilton. Bottas was third, almost half a second adrift of Hamilton, while Vettel was fourth ahead of Räikkonen.

Grosjean, Verstappen and Ricciardo, meanwhile, had yet to run but as the front-runner prepared for a final assault they took to the track to find the maximum space.

In the final runs Rosberg held onto top spot as neither Mercedes driver found an improvement. The German set quicker times through the first and last sectors but a slower middle sector left the second lap of his opening run as his best.

Hamilton meanwhile Hamilton went wide at Turn 13 on his lap and returned to the pits. He waited momentarily at his pit box but then decided to concede victory to his team-mate, who took his second pole position in a row.

Behind them Bottas finished third, the Finn also failing to find an improvement, and fourth place in the session went to Vettel with team-mate Räikkönen fifth.

Hulkenberg and Perez took P6 and P7 respectively for Force India, while Grosjean was eighth ahead of Verstappen and Ricciardo.

[highlight ]Russian Grand Prix, Socho Autodrom - Qualifying[/highlight]

Note - Alonso Penalised 35 Grid Places For Unscheduled Ice, Turbocharger, Mgu-H And Ce Changes. Merhi Penalised 20 Places For Unscheduled Ice, Turbocharger And Mgu-H Changes.