Formula 1: Valtteri Bottas takes pole for 2018 Russian Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas took the pole position for the 16th race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, the Russian Grand Prix, at Sochi Autodrom.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas earned his second pole position of the 2018 Formula 1 season and the sixth pole position of his Formula 1 career by taking the pole position for the 16th race of the 21-race season, the Russian Grand Prix.

Bottas took the pole position for the 53-lap race by recording a top lap time of 91.387 seconds (143.154 miles per hour) around the 18-turn, 3.634-mile (5.848-kilometer) Sochi Autodrom road course in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia in the third and final round of qualifying.

Bottas’ teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified in second place for the race and is set to start alongside Bottas on the front row. His top lap time and the third and final round of qualifying was 0.145 seconds slower than that of the 29-year-old Finn.

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Scuderia Ferrari teammates Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen qualified on the second row in third and fourth place, respectively. Vettel’s top lap time in the third and final round of qualifying was 0.556 seconds slower than that of Bottas while Raikkonen’s was 0.850 seconds slower.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen had a solid very qualifying effort and is set to start the race on the third row in fifth place. He is set to start the race alongside Racing Point Force India’s Esteban Ocon in sixth.

Perhaps even more impressively, Alfa Romeo Sauber’s Charles Leclerc qualified in a career-high seventh place. He is set to start the race on the fourth row alongside Force India’s Sergio Perez in eighth.

Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson are set to round out the top 10 on the starting grid on the fifth row in ninth and 10th place, respectively.

Just five different teams were represented in the third and final round of qualifying for the race. The fact that three of those teams were Haas, Force India and Sauber is fairly surprising even with both Aston Martin Red Bull Racing drivers set to face grid penalties.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom.

With Red Bull Racing teammates Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo as well as Scuderia Toro Rosso teammates Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso set to face grid penalties because of the fact that they have taken on new engines parts before the race, here is the provisional starting grid for the race.

NOTE: The order by which these five drivers lined up at the end of the pit lane ahead of the first practice session for the race is the order by which they are set to start the race from 16th through 20th place.

Be sure to tune in to ESPN2 tomorrow at 7:10 a.m. ET for the live broadcast of the Russian Grand Prix from Sochi Autodrom. After this race, just five races will remain on the 2018 Formula 1 schedule.