Nico Rosberg on pole for Russian Grand Prix as he outshines Lewis Hamilton
German takes his third pole position of the season and the 18th of his career as Spaniard Carlos Sainz survives crash
Nico Rosberg out-qualified his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to claim pole for the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi on Saturday.
Rosberg, trailing Hamilton by 48 points in the world championship, claimed his third pole of the season by three tenths of a second with a time of 1 minute, 37.113 seconds.
I am just enjoying being on pole at the moment. The constructors championship is a really important target for us again this weekend
It was Rosberg’s third pole of the season and the 18th of his career and came after a dramatic morning during which Spaniard Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso escaped injury when crashed heavily at Turn 13 after careering out of control at more than 300 kph.
Showing undimmed self-belief and confidence, Rosberg said: “I am very happy. It has been a difficult weekend because of the little running we got, but 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 and at the same time I am out to reduce the gap on Lewis.”
Hamilton, who ran off track in a vain final bid to improve his time and grab his 50th career pole, was three-tenths adrift in second place ahead of Finn Valtteri Bottas who was third for Williams.
