Mercedes qualified for the second consecutive race of the 2017 Formula One season for the top two positions as Lewis Hamilton produced a stunning lap to claim his 66 pole position of his career. The Brit is now just two behind all-time record holder Michael Schumacher and if he continuous this way, he could surpass him this year itself.
Things did not look too good for Hamilton during the practice session as he faced a lot of problems and it was all Ferrari and Red Bull but the Silver Arrow turned things up during the qualifying session. Hamilton was the only driver to lap under 1m42s in Q1 and was comfortably fastest with a single run in Q2 as well.
Also read: Blue flag rule changed ahead of Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2017
In Q3 he looked to set to go fastest again but he made a mistake on his first lap as his teammate Valtteri Bottas took the lead. Things got worse for Hamilton after the red flags came out as Daniel Ricciardo hit the wall at Turn 6. Despite that, the Brit had enough time to get one final lap done and it was probably the best lap ever.
He put in a lap time of 1:40.593 beating Bottas by 0.434 seconds to take pole position. After the qualifying Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has hailed Hamilton's pole lap in Azerbaijan, saying it was a performance that typified the Briton's unique talents. The Brit himself said it was the most exciting laps and is really pumped for the race.
"That was one of the most exciting laps I've had all year and a lot of pressure. The first lap I easily had the time but I made a mistake in the last corner. It was all or nothing but the lap just got better and better throughout," BBC quoted Hamilton as saying.
"I saw Valtteri ahead and knew he was doing a good lap. I was like, 'please be enough'. I am ecstatic. I am so pumped with that. That's how qualifying should be. It is going to be a long, hard race but we are in the best position to start."
Meanwhile, Ferrari did not have the best qualifying sessions despite showing positive signs during practice. Kimi Raikkonen took the third place while Sebastian Vettel came in fourth and if the German were to finish fourth or lower than fourth and Hamilton were to win the race, he would drop down to second in the world championship.
Despite that Vettel is still expecting Ferrari to challenge for the win. With Mercedes and Ferrari in the top four, Max Verstappen qualified fifth while Force India had another impressive display as they qualified sixth and seventh. Lance Stroll also put in an impressive display as he qualified in eight position ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa for the first time this season.
Finally, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo is set to start from 10th place after he crashed in Q3. There was more disappointment for McLaren and Fernando Alonso in particular as they are set to start from the back of the grid after a plethora of engine penalties for both drivers even before the weekend started.
Checkout the highlights from the qualifying session of the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Where to watch
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2017 is set to start at 5:00pm local time, 6:30pm IST and 9:00am EST.
TV and live streaming information
Australia: TV: Ten HD. Live Streaming: Ten Play.
India: TV: Star Sports Select 2. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports F1. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports.
USA: TV: NBCSN. Live Streaming: NBC Sports Live.
Asia: TV: Fox Sports. Live Streaming: Fox Sports Play.
Canada: TV: TSN, TSN 2, RDS
