Senna overtaken
LEWIS Hamilton blitzed the Formula One field with a phenomenal last lap to secure pole position at today’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Just as in Canada a fortnight previously, Hamilton made it count when it mattered most to finish nearly half-a-second clear of his teammate Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes locked out the front row for the second time in as many races.
Hamilton’s championship rival Sebastian Vettel will start only fourth after he was out-qualified by his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.
The 66th pole of Hamilton’s career has moved him above Ayrton Senna and into a standalone second in the all-time list. Hamilton could match Michael Schumacher’s record, of which he is now two short, in front of a capacity crowd at Silverstone for next month’s British Grand Prix.
“I am so pumped with that pole, and that is how qualifying should be,” Hamilton said. “It will be a hard race but we are in the best position to start.”
The narrow confines of the Baku City Circuit have caused a number of problems for drivers with Turn Eight – the strip of tarmac which measures just 7.8 metres in width – the scene of two crashes.
But it was the right-handed Turn Six that caught Daniel Ricciardo on the hop as he lost the rear of his Red Bull and thudded into the wall.
The Australian sustained damage to the left rear of his car and was forced to stop on track. The red flags were immediately deployed and the clock stopped with three minutes and 33 seconds remaining.
Bottas held the advantage over Hamilton after the Briton made a mistake during his first run in the top-10 shoot-out. But with the odds against him, Hamilton responded in emphatic fashion to take his second consecutive pole.
For Vettel, who holds a 12-point lead over Hamilton in the title race, it has been a difficult weekend. He failed to trouble the time sheets yesterday, before missing most of final practice with a hydraulic issue.
Although his Ferrari team managed to resolve the failure in time for qualifying, Vettel was 1.3 secs slower than Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso is due to start last after a mammoth 40-place penalty following a raft of changes to his hapless Honda engine. His teammate Stoffel Vandoorne will start one place higher up after he was penalised 35 spots following new parts on his engine and a new gearbox, too.
Alonso was knocked out of Q1 for the first time this year with his sluggish Honda engine struggling for speed on the longest straight on the calendar.