F1: Hamilton Takes Pole in Dramatic Russian Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the Pirelli Pole Position Award after qualifying in pole position at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi. (Reuters)
Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the Pirelli Pole Position Award after qualifying in pole position at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi. (Reuters)
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F1: Hamilton Takes Pole in Dramatic Russian Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the Pirelli Pole Position Award after qualifying in pole position at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi. (Reuters)
Lewis Hamilton celebrates with the Pirelli Pole Position Award after qualifying in pole position at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi. (Reuters)

Lewis Hamilton took a step closer to equaling the Formula One win record on Saturday by clinching pole position at the Russian Grand Prix, after narrowly avoiding early elimination when Sebastian Vettel crashed.

Hamilton charged to a track-record time of 1 minute, 31.304 seconds, beating the Red Bull of Max Verstappen by .563 for his fifth straight pole position. Hamilton can achieve his 91st career win in the race on Sunday, matching the record held by Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton's Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was beaten into third by Verstappen's fast run at the end of the session and was .652 off Hamilton's time.

The long run from the grid to the first significant turn means Bottas could yet threaten to overtake Hamilton at the start Sunday using the slipstream from his teammate's car.

“This year you’re seeing that our cars are more draggy and there’s more tow this year than we’ve seen in other years. So I generally expect one of these two (Verstappen and Bottas) to come flying by at some point,” Hamilton said. “I think I'm just going to focus on my race and run the fastest race I can.”

Bottas earned his first win at the 2017 race in Russia after starting third and overtaking the two Ferraris ahead of him at the start.

Verstappen and Bottas both start the race on medium tires, which could give them an edge in terms of pit strategy over Hamilton, who is on soft tires, which wear much faster.

“I’m just going to have to nurse those tires for as far as I can. These guys, if they get by, they’re going to be pulling away,” Hamilton said.

Verstappen said he was delighted to start second.

“I wasn’t expecting that and of course it’s great for us. If we can get a good start tomorrow you never know what can happen," he said.

Vettel lost control of his car over the kerb on the inside of the 90-degree, right-hand turn four and spun into the wall, before the Ferrari bounced back onto the track. Teammate Charles Leclerc was following closely behind and narrowly missed the wrecked car, driving over its discarded front wing.

“Oh my God, that was very, very close," Leclerc told his team over the radio. Leclerc qualified 11th and Vettel 15th as Ferrari failed to reach the top-10 shootout with either car for the third time in four races.

Vettel's crash meant the red flag was waved while Hamilton was trying to set his first valid lap time to make the third session — after his first attempt was earlier ruled out for going off the track.

After the track was cleared and the session restarted, Hamilton had to rush his out-lap and ran off the track before making it over the line in time for another flying lap with just a second to spare.

“It was horrible,” Hamilton said. “Heart in the mouth.”

Hamilton was also asked to report to race stewards over another incident in which he went off the track in the first part of qualifying. No further action was taken. It was found Hamilton didn't gain an advantage because the lap time wasn't counted.

Hamilton is the runaway championship leader with a 55-point advantage over second-place Bottas and 80 over Verstappen. If he can earn four more pole positions in the last seven races, he would be the first driver to 100 in F1 history.



At Wimbledon, Portuguese Tennis Players Pay Tribute to Diogo Jota with Black Ribbon

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
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At Wimbledon, Portuguese Tennis Players Pay Tribute to Diogo Jota with Black Ribbon

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 4, 2025 Portugal's Francisco Cabral reacts during his second round doubles match with Austria's Lucas Miedler against Czech Republic's Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge

Diogo Jota was remembered at Wimbledon on Friday as two Portuguese players wore a black ribbon on their all-white attire during their matches, a day after the Liverpool winger and his brother were killed in a car crash.

The All England Club has a strict dress code for players while on court but permission to wear the ribbon was granted after the two soccer players died in the crash in Spain.

Nuno Borges, who at No. 37 is Portugal's highest-ranked tennis player, attached a ribbon to his hat for his third-round match against Karen Khachanov on No. 3 Court.

Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon on his left sleeve during a doubles match.