SOCHI, Russia – Charles Leclerc stormed to his fourth consecutive Formula 1 pole during qualifying for the VTB Russian Grand Prix on Saturday at Sochi Autodrom.
Leclerc scorched the Russian pavement with a lap of 1:31.801 around the 3.634-mile, 18-turn course, taking the sixth F-1 pole of his career and his sixth of the season in his No. 16 Ferrari SF90.
Even still, however, Leclerc wasn’t quite as confident after qualifying that he landed in the catbird’s seat for Sunday’s 53-lap race, considering he’ll have five-time F-1 champion and current points leader Lewis Hamilton alongside him for the start.
“It felt amazing,” said Leclerc of his lap. “It definitely feels great to back on pole, but I don’t know if it’s the best track to start on pole.
“The straight is very long after the start, so tomorrow the start will be very important as always, but here probably even more because of the straight length.”
The Monegasque driver becomes the first Ferrari pilot to win four-straight F-1 poles since Michael Schumacher did so across the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
He wasn’t thinking about that on Saturday, however, keeping his focus on what’s ahead.
“It definitely feels very, very special, but I don’t really want to think about those stats for now,” Leclerc insisted. “I just want to focus on the job. There’s still a long way to go tomorrow, but it’s definitely a good start.
“We’ve been competitive all weekend long and the race simulations seem positive, so it’s looking good for tomorrow.”
Hamilton was four tenths of a second adrift of the pole time, posting a best lap of 1:32.030, while Leclerc’s teammate Sebastian Vettel starts third (1:32.053) on Sunday.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen qualified fourth, the lone representative for the team after Alexander Albon crashed out of the first knockout round, and the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was fifth.
Carlos Sainz landed sixth for McLaren, while the factory Renault of Nico Hulkenberg ended up seventh and Sainz’s teammate Lando Norris timed in eighth-fastest.
Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean and the sister Renault of Daniel Ricciardo completed the top 10.