Q3 Mercedes informs Hamilton over radio that track is slowing.
Magnussen is bringing up the rear in 10th and will also have a five-place
grid penalty for a gearbox failure for tomorrow’s race. Ricciardo abandons a
lap and comes in early still lieing fifth with the final laps now taking
place.
Q3 Ricciardo goes into top four with his latest lap with just over four
minutes to run. Hamilton goes strong in first sector on another lap and
appears to be back up and running. He moves first with time of 1.38.647 with
Rosberg second and Bottas back in third with three minutes to go.
Q3 Hamilton makes a little mistake at turn eight but he manages to turn
it around in the next sector. He comes over line first only for Rosberg to
set the fastest lap of 1.38.946 and subsequently Hamilton is pushed down the
field to sixth.
Q3 Here we go. The final 12 minute shoot-out begins. Who’s your money
on for top three. Mine? Hamilton, Rosberg, Bottas.
Q2 Casualties of Q2, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Perez, Gutierrez, Sutil and
Grosjean.
Q2 Perez is back out hoping to force his way back into the top 10. He
can’t make the chequered flag and is out of qualifying. His team-mate
Hulkenberg is still out there but also can’t make the top 10 as does Vettel
who comes in 11th and one place outside qualifying for Q3. His team-mate
Ricciardo, mind, is safely through.
Q2 Sebastian Vettel may not be able to clinch a fifth straight world
title and currently he’s up against making it through to Q3 with one minute
40 left to produce the goods. It seems the German’s Red Bull had braking
issues during Q1 and are working frantically to fix the issue.
Q2 Alonso gets it together on his next lap to go under 1.40mins for the
first time to move up to seventh. Raikkonen is next to go through after his
team-mate and comes in eighth and Perez pays for Ferrari’s upturn as he
falls outside the top 10.
Q2 Bottas is keeping pace with the Mercedes and doing a commendable job
for Williams in Massa’s absence. He sets the fastest lap time before
Hamilton joins the party and takes his place back at the top of the tree.
Alonso is out on track but is currently well off the pace. He still has six
minutes left but admits to his radio that his car is struggling, “no
understeer”, he reveals.
Q2 Sergio Perez is the first to record a time of 1.40.163 but it puts
him top of the pile…that is until Button just pips him to top spot and
then heavyweight Rosberg muscles them both aside.
Q2 Round two under way…15 minutes…and now only 10 drivers can
progress…
Q1 Massa had issues with “engine mode” according to deputy
team principal Claire Williams. Could mean a new engine for tomorrow’s race.
“We’re going to have to look into it, but from the radio communications,
it’s something to do the engine,” she said. “It’s a real shame,
after the pace we have shown this weekend, for Felipe not to make Q2 – it’s
so disappointing.”
Q1 Ericsson, Massa, Kobayashi, Maldonado, and Marussia’s sole driver
Chilton all miss the cut for Q2.
Q1 Here goes Massa on his final lap but he can’t do enough and he’s out
of qualifying as is Maldonado. At least Williams are quick to apologise to
the Venezuelan. His team come over the radio: “Sorry for that Pastor, a
complete shambles”.
Q1 Bottas’s team-mate Felipe Massa isn’t faring well out there, back in
17th…but still has time on his side…just a minute and 30 to produce
something big to make it into Q2.
Q1 Lotus have fixed Maldonado’s issue and the Venezuelan is back on
track. Nice touch from organisers as drivers turn into the last bend with
writing on the track in big white letters reading: Jules we are all
supporting you.
Q1 Hamilton gets past some traffic to post the fastest lap of 1.38.759
to leapfrog above Rosberg at the top of the pile. The Williams of Bottas is
currently lieing third. Button, who put in a decent lap has been pushed back
down to 12th with four minutes to go.
Q1 Seven minutes down and Mercedes have started off cautiously. Lotus
mechanics are frantically taking a look at Maldonado’s car and deciding
whether he’ll be able to get out of the garage again before time’s up.
Q1: Pastor Maldonado is back in the pits and said to be suffering with
an early problem. We have 21 drivers vying for the 16 places available for
Q2 at the end of 18 minutes on track.
Q1: Lotus’ Romain Grosjean is first out on track as the camera
pans to a big, big fan in the paddock…that of, er Ginger Spice of course. Lewis
Hamilton heads out on medium tyres. Nico Rosberg also goes out on medium
compounds, ignoring the option of the softer ones.
11.58 Just before qualifying gets under way, Daniel Johnson has
got in touch with an update from Sochi:
Unsurprisingly, the odd ‘heavy’ (Russian security guard) has start
appearing around the paddock. There was a rather menacing looking chap
outside McLaren.
The other main observation is that the main grandstand has barely anyone in
it. Organisers were bullish about filling the 55,000 capacity tomorrow, but
that’s not looking likely on the evidence of today.
On a different note, you can’t help but feel sorry fro Kevin Magnussen. He
was speedy yesterday in practice, but only did four laps this morning
because his gearbox broke. A gearbox change means he has a five-place grid
penalty.
11.52 With so much focus on Bianchi’s crash, the fact that Russia is
staging a first ever grand prix (and whether it should actually be allowed
to do so) has been lost this week. The politics aside, the drivers are big
fans of the circuit. Here’s DC’s take on the Sochi Autodrom which is in the
heart of the Olympic Park that was the setting for the Winter Games earlier
this year.
It is a very impressive facility. From going to Moscow, St Petersburg, or
other Russian cities, you can see why they call this the Russian Riviera. It
is immaculate, and the drivers seem genuinely enthused by the track, which
is impressively high speed for a street circuit.
As much as there are people wanting to dislike Russia, for political and
humanitarian reasons, this works as a standalone venue and it works as a
grand prix circuit. For the race fans here there are plenty of restaurants
and bars by the Black Sea, even an Irish bar.
11.42 Have to say Sky’s F1 channel are treating the Bianchi crash and
subsequent fall-out in emotional and considered fashion. Martin Brundle’s VT
on remembering a time when he spun off the same corner in 1994 narrowly
missing a recovery vehicle but hitting a marshal who suffered a broken leg,
was particularly moving.
11.35 As a result of Bianchi’s crash, the FIA have said new safety
measures will be brought in even though the governing body’s race director
Charlie Whiting believes “nothing could have been done better” at
Suzuka.
Instead Whiting said that “a perfect storm” of circumstances
conspired against Bianchi during last Sunday’s race as the Frenchman
collided with the rear end of a recovery vehicle.
The main improvement of the new safety measures looks likely to be a speed
limit electronically imposed on all cars when a double-waved yellow flag is
implemented.
Drivers should take their foot off their gas during this time, but as
witnessed at Suzuka not all drivers adhere.
In a 75-minute press conference yesterday, Whiting confirmed Bianchi did
reduce some speed but refused to say how much.
11.20 Championship leader Hamilton has spoken of Bianchi’s crash and
said that the accident brought back memories of seeing a karter die when he
was just nine years old.
“When I was nine years old, I saw a young driver die when I was racing in
karts,” he said. “A good friend of mine who was a good friend of his stopped
racing, but that has never been something that has entered my mind.
“That was a very traumatic time for me as a kid. Even now, I can remember
standing on the bank beside a track with him with our suits on just before a
race, all laughing and joking. And then the next thing I knew I was at his
funeral. It was the first time I had ever been to one.”
In his BBC Sport column, the championship leader added: “It is very hard to
put that out of my mind at the moment, after what happened to Jules. Things
like this really open up your view a bit. Bad things happen to people, but
the world keeps going, which is really sad in a way. But it does not make me
rethink wanting to be a Formula One driver.”
Bianchi’s car will remain vacate in the Maurassia garage this weekend
11.00 Lewis Hamilton was lucky not to hit the wall during final
practice but a late spin failed to stop the Briton from setting the fastest
time.
Hamilton, who leads the championship by 10 points, locked up heading into the
penultimate turn. He avoided any damage to his car but returned to his
garage, bringing an end to his session.
Title challenger Nico Rosberg finished second and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas
third.
Our F1 correspondent Daniel Johnson has taken his seat in Sochi for
qualifying which gets under way at midday (BST) but says there’s – not
surprisingly – a sombre atmosphere on and off track.
The whole atmosphere continues to be overshadowed by Jules Bianchi’s
crash. No-one is smiling or laughing about much.
Attention has turned to tomorrow’s race and the security arrangements for
President Putin’s visit (he will be on the grid along with the King of
Bahrain). There have been some suggestions about the radio signal being
affected when he arrives, as Russian special forces disrupt the transmission
to ward off any bomb fears. However, sources at Sky said they would be given
enough warning for no viewers to notice any difference in the broadcast.
All that said, security is phenomenally tight. Getting through in the
morning is not a speedy process – they even checked if my watch had charge
today. Putin has asked for 800 VIP passes from Bernie Ecclestone, an unheard
of number. This is very much Putin’s race. Can’t say I or many others feel
particularly great about being here.
10.00 It’s back to business for Formula One this weekend as the race
for the world title resumes in Sochi, but all thoughts remain off the track
with Jules Bianchi still in a critical condition in hospital following his
life-threatening accident at Suzuka just six days ago.
Bianchi’s car has been rebuilt following the crash, which brought to a
premature end to last Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix, but Marussia confirmed
in the build up to the inaugural race in Sochi they would only race one car
this weekend and leave the Frenchman’s car vacant in the garage as a mark of
respect.
Telegraph Sport columnist David Coulthard, who himself was given his
first F1 drive following Aryton Senna’s death at Imola 20 years ago,
believes that it has been easy for the sport to become complacent without a
serious accident in a long time, but says his thoughts are with the Marussia
driver and his family who are at his bedside.
I got my first F1 drive after Ayrton’s Senna death at Imola 20 years ago.
Williams left the car empty for Monaco, and everyone was in shock. I did not
even approach the team about if I would get the drive for Spain, because it
was hugely traumatic. But you get on with your job. It is difficult to put
into words how everyone at Marussia will be feeling. It is a very personal
thing for them and they have been moved by the support of their competitors
and F1 fans alike.
Accidents can and do happen in F1. Arguably, after a long time without
anyone being seriously hurt, people can become complacent. But the drivers,
with the Grand Prix Drivers Association and the FIA, will work together to
look at the options and learn the lessons. In the meantime our thoughts and
prayers are with Jules and his family.
I’ll be back from 11am to bring you latest news from Sochi ahead of live
coverage of qualifying