Lewis Hamilton has secured pole position for tomorrow’s Russian Grand Prix after fending off stiff competition from teammate and championship rival Nico Rosberg during qualifying in Sochi today.
The British driver posted a fastest lap time of 1:38.513 to finished two-tenths of a second clear of Rosberg, but Williams’ Valtteri Bottas very nearly spoiled the party, finishing third after running wide on his final and quickest lap time.
Formula 1 has arrived in Sochi this weekend with a heavy heart following Jules Bianchi’s accident in Japan. The Frenchman remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition, and is the foremost thought for the entire paddock this weekend.
In a mark of respect for its driver, Marussia has opted to race with just one car this weekend in Russia, meaning that 21 cars took to the track for qualifying on Saturday afternoon.
With track evolution and grip being critical around the new Sochi Autodrom circuit, most of the drivers opted to immediately head out in Q1 on the option tire in search of the quickest possible lap time. Jenson Button was one of the few to buck the trend, and did momentarily sit in first place on the medium tire but was soon bumped off as Rosberg and Hamilton resumed normal service for Mercedes in first and second place respectively.
Instead of pitting early, the drivers opted to stay out and continue to learn the circuit as it became faster and faster. Felipe Massa was the shock exit in Q1 after a problem developed on his Williams, leaving him down in 18th position come the checkered flag. Marcus Ericsson put in a good lap to finish 17th, just one-tenth of a second off a place in Q2, with Caterham teammate Kamui Kobayashi finishing 19th ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Max Chilton.
Picking up where he left off in Q1, Hamilton immediately established his dominance in the second part of qualifying by going six-tenths faster than the field, leaving his rivals searching for time. Although Rosberg did cut the gap to 0.2 seconds, he still found himself staring down the barrel of a defeat ahead of Q3.
One man who didn’t expect to be missing the final session was Sebastian Vettel, who struggled for pace and finished down in 11th place. The German driver was eliminated alongside the Force India pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, who qualified 12th and 13th respectively ahead of the two Sauber drivers and Romain Grosjean.
Q3 saw the field head out early to try and find some heat and increase grip on their tires, but Rosberg sent out a statement of intent by going fastest of all ahead of Bottas and Button as Hamilton opted to bide his time before posting his optimum lap.
With three minutes to go, Hamilton finally found his feet to move to the top of the timesheets, but Rosberg could not respond after making a mistake on his hot lap. Both had one more shot in their battle for pole position, and Hamilton made his count, enjoying a lead of two-tenths of a second at the flag.
However, Bottas very nearly upset the odds, going fastest of all in sectors one and two before running wide at the final corner, leaving him third. Jenson Button proved that McLaren’s practice form was genuine, qualifying fourth ahead of home favorite Daniil Kvyat.
Kevin Magnussen qualified sixth for McLaren, but will drop to P11 due to his grid penalty. Daniel Ricciardo finished seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, with Jean-Eric Vergne rounding out the top ten.
In a close qualifying session, it was Hamilton who made it count once again to secure his seventh pole position of the season. With victory tomorrow, he could move into a 17-point lead at the top of the drivers’ championship, taking him ever closer to a second world title.
As the SuperMotocross season heads outdoors, the NBC Power Rankings change significantly with results from the Motocross opener at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. The Power Rankings assign a numeric value to each individual moto (90 points maximum) as well as the overall standings (100 points) and averages that number over the past 45 days. Included in the Power Rankings are results from the final five Supercross rounds, which fit into that 45-day timeframe.Dylan Ferrandis finished on the podium in his first race back after experience a concussion in Supercross Round 4 at Houston. – Align Media
It didn’t take long for Jett Lawrence to rocket to the top of the SuperMotocross rankings – only about 74 minutes in fact. Lawrence dominated his first moto and beat his teammate Chase Sexton, the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross champion, to the line by 10 seconds. He had to fight a little harder for the second moto win as Sexton stalked him throughout the race and ended up less than a second behind.
Beginning this week, we have added the SuperMotocross points’ ranking beside the rider’s name and in one fell swoop, Lawrence went from being unranked in the 450 class to 26th. To qualify for the inaugural SuperMotocross’ guaranteed 20 positions that automatically make the gate for the three-race championship series, Lawrence needs to be inside the top 20 in combined Supercross and Motocross points. The bubble is currently held by Justin Starling and Lawrence needs to make up 44 points to overtake him.
Sexton’s second-place finish in the overall standings at Fox Raceway marked his ninth consecutive top-five finish. After the race, Sexton compared the battle he had with Lawrence to the one he experienced with Eli Tomac in last year’s Pro Motocross championship. These two riders had a significant advantage over the field in Pala, but there is still a lot of racing to be completed.
After missing 13 rounds to a concussion, Dylan Ferrandis told NBC Sports that he was not going to do anything risky in the season opener at Fox Raceway. If he dialed back his effort at all, one would be hard-pressed to notice. He finished third in both motos and was third in the overall standings. Ferrandis began the weekend just outside the top 20 in combined SuperMotocross points and climbed to 19th. In the next few weeks, he will get a little more breathing room over the cutline and then challenge for wins.
Adam Cianciarulo’s three-race streak of top-five finishes ended with a sixth-place overall at Fox Raceway, but that was enough to advance him one position in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings and land him eighth in the combined points standings. His individual motos were moderate, but Cianciarulo is still battling the effects of injury and a nagging loss of strength in his wrist.
Aaron Plessinger returned from injury in the Supercross season finale to finish second at Salt Lake City. He added another top-five to his season total and now has six of those in the 13 rounds he’s made. With Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac not currently racing in Motocross, Plessinger has an opportunity to rise to the third seeding in short order.
A bad start to Moto 1 at Fox Raceway was not enough to deter Hunter Lawrence. Neither was the fact that he was riding with sore ribs after experiencing a practice crash earlier in the week. He was a distant 10th to start the first race and for most of the 30 minutes, it seemed he would finish off the podium. Lawrence did not win the 250 East Supercross championship by giving in to hopelessness or pain, however.
Lawrence picked off one rider and then another until he found the battle for the top five in front of him at the halfway point. Once the field started to lap riders, Lawrence used the opportunity to continue forward through the grid. He passed third-place Jo Shimoda with two laps remaining and challenged Maximus Vohland for second on the final trip around Fox Raceway, but had to settle for the final spot on the podium. Lawrence dominated Moto 2 and claimed the overall victory in Pala.
Justin Cooper made his first start of the season at Fox Raceway and earned enough NBC Power Average points to climb to second. Partly this was due to consistently strong runs in both motos and a 5-4 that gave him the fifth position overall, but he is also not weighed down with moderate Supercross results. It will take a week or two to see where his strength lands him on the grid.
In only his third Pro Motocross National, Haiden Deegan scored a second-place finish in the overall standings. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire may feel he has something to prove after finishing second to Jett Lawrence in the 250 SX West division. He certainly rode like that was the case in Moto 1 and easily outpaced the field on his way to victory lane. In Moto 2, he crashed twice on Lap 1 and dropped back to 39th. It took half of the race to get inside the top 20 and salvage points. By the end of the race, he was 11th and while that was enough to get him on the overall podium, it cost him points in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings.
Haiden Deegan surprised the field in Houston in his 250 Supercross debut by finishing fifth. At the time, he said his strong result was because there were no expectations. He echoed that statement after the Motocross season opener. His second-place finish in the overall standings was enough to project him five positions up the SuperMotocross Rankings. In 11 rounds in the combined series, Deegan has earned seven top-fives and a worst finish of eighth.
Jo Shimoda did not make his first Supercross race of 2023 until late in the season. He finished fourth on the hybrid track of Atlanta, which had some similar elements to Fox Raceway. His fourth-place finish in Moto 1 of the Motocross opener made it seem likely he would score an overall podium, but a sixth in the second race cost him points in the NBC Power Rankings in a field that promises to be extremely tight.
250 Rankings
This
Week
Driver (SMX rank)
Power
Avg.
Last
Week
Diff.
1.
Hunter Lawrence (1)
89.56
2
1
2.
Justin Cooper (42)
84.67
NA
3.
RJ Hampshire (3)
83.67
3
0
3.
Haiden Deegan (4)
83.67
8
5
5.
Jo Shimoda (16)
82.33
7
2
6.
Guillem Farres (46)
79.33
NA
7.
Levi Kitchen (6)
79.11
5
-2
8.
Max Anstie (5)
77.83
12
4
9.
Max Vohland (8)
77.50
14
5
10.
Enzo Lopes (10)
76.00
11
1
11.
Mitchell Oldenburg (13)
74.25
16
5
12.
Carson Mumford (19)
71.22
17
5
13.
Jordon Smith (7)
70.56
9
-4
14.
Ryder DiFrancesco (48)
70.33
NA
15.
Chris Blose (12)
67.00
13
-2
16.
Chance Hymas (27)
66.00
19
3
17.
Tom Vialle (9)
65.78
18
1
18.
Jett Reynolds (55)
63.33
NA
19.
Michael Mosiman (28)
62.33
20
1
20.
Garrett Marchbanks (64)
59.00
NA
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner in Supercross and overall winner in Motocross. It awards 90 points for each Moto, Heat and Triple Crown win. The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.
