Sebastian Vettel will start the Azerbaijan Grand prix from pole position after winning the qualifying at the Baku Street Circuit. That is his third consecutive pole this season – an achievement he last had in 2013. The Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were second and third in the session.
At the beginning of the qualifying, Romain Grosjean had an accident – his gearbox blocked on the third turn. Later Pierre Gasly almost crashed in his teammate Brendon Hartley. The New Zealander had a puncture and tried to move out of the way but did not succeed. He apologized to Gasly and the team.
A close call for the @ToroRosso drivers ? #AzerbaijanGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/DUO9gjCAbq
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2018
Sebastian Vettel will start the Azerbaijan Grand prix from pole position
In Q3 the drivers of the three leading teams and those of Force India and Renault too part. In the first stints, Vettel was fastest in front of Hamilton and Bottas. Ricciardo touched the wall of the 15th turn.
During the last fast laps, Hamilton had a record first sector but ultimately cut the distance to only 0,179sec. Raikkonen was hyper-fast after two record-breaking sectors, but he barely held the car at the last turn and stayed sixth while Ricciardo was faster than Verstappen.
Vettel holds off the two Mercedes to take pole ?
Both Force Indias in the top 10 ?#AzerbaijanGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/NhsQ6HL16E
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 28, 2018
