Hamilton pips Bottas to pole in Azerbaijan
BAKU: Lewis Hamilton snatched pole position for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix after eclipsing Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas on his final qualifying lap on Saturday.
The three-time world champion starts ahead of Bottas with Ferrari duo Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader, occupying the second row of the grid.
Hamilton claimed the 66th pole of his career, pulling clear of Brazilian great Ayrton Senna’s mark and leaving the Briton just two shy of Michael Schumacher’s record of 68.
The 32-year-old bounced back from a frustrating practice outing on Friday to clinch his fifth pole in eight races this season as Mercedes locked out the front row.
Hamilton’s quickest lap of 1min 40.593sec came in the final seconds of the session following a red-flagged stoppage which turned the finale into a 3min 30sec showdown.
“I am so pumped — that’s how qualifying should be,” said an ecstatic Hamilton, who was more than a second off the pace on Friday. “It is going to be a long hard race, but it’s the best place to start.” SYDNEY: India’s Kidambi Srikanth blew away China’s Shi Yuqi with a “dream” performance to set up an Australian Open final against Olympic champion Chen Long on Saturday. The 11th-ranked Srikanth beat Shi, the world number four, 2110, 21-14 in just 37 minutes to reach his third successive Superseries final. China’s Chen gave himself a shot at his first Superseries title this year by fighting off South Korean veteran Lee Hyun-Il 26-24, 15-21, 21-17 in 68 minutes. The women’s final on Sunday will be an Akane Yamaguchi and Nozomi Okuhara. Okuhara made her first Superseries final in over a year, wearing down China’s Sun Yu 21-18, 18-21, 21-14, while Yamaguchi played a brilliant counterattacking game to shock Taiwanese top seed Tai Tzu Ying 21-19, 21-12. Srikanth, who won last week’s Indonesia Open and also reached the Singapore Open final in May, gave a masterclass in net play and deception to blitz Shi. “Yes, it’s a dream performance,” Srikanth said. “I played a World Superseries final (Singapore Open) after two years, and then to play the next two finals is a dream for sure. I was in control of the whole match, I didn’t give him any easy points at the start. It’s just that I had to stay there and not give him easy points. I was in control at the net.” In the other men’s semifinal, Lee pinned Chen to the lines and kept things tight until he chose his moment to attack. Chen’s usually airtight defence was frequently pierced as he struggled to
Bottas, who had been fastest in Q3 until Hamilton’s stunning final lap, admitted he was disappointed.
“The lap, in the end, wasn’t quite perfect, I was struggling the front left temperature and Lewis then did his lap! It’s disappointing, but second place is not bad.”
Hamilton is 12 points behind Vettel in the championship after seven races. all-Japanese affair between
Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull ahead of the two Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, Canadian teenager Lance Stroll who was eighth ahead of his Williams team-mate Felipe Massa and Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who crashed his Red Bull to engage the red flag and create the final drama. read the lines of Lee’s attack.
The Korean dominated the Olympic champion but failed to convert any of four game points in the opener. He took the second game and had his chances in the third until a late surge by Chen proved too much. “I’m quite satisfied with my performance this tournament. I feel less pressure now as an independent player, that’s why my performances have improved in recent times,” Lee said.
In the women’s semifinals, Yamaguchi went for winners and never let off her pace against Tai, the world number one.
Tai stayed level through the first game but Yamaguchi got lucky on her first game point — the shuttle catching the tape and tumbling into Tai’s court — and the Japanese consolidated her lead with solid play in the second.
Okuhara has lost four straight matches to her compatriot Yamaguchi, but she was hopeful of turning it around in Sunday’s final.
“After the Rio Olympics, I had an injury and it has taken time to recover,” Okuhara said. “My condition is better now. I face Akane again. Last week I lost to her but I want to challenge her tomorrow.”