Hamilton takes pole, but is not happy: "Will be hard to win the race tomorrow"

Qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix wasn't smooth for Lewis Hamilton. In Q3, the Briton managed to recover and still win pole position for the race in Sochi. The World Championship leader survived a Q2 exit scare, crossing the line for his final lap with just a second to spare.

“First of all I want to thank all the fans who are here, I missed the fans so much this season. It's really great to see, I hope they wear their face masks and keep themselves safe. When I walked out of the hotel this morning I ran into a number of fans with a Black Lives Matter face mask and that meant a lot to me," says Hamilton.

"It was one of the worst qualifying sessions. It was horrible - heart in your mouth. I wanted to stay out and do a banker but they said come in and get new tyres and then the red flag came out. It was a risk, we got through but I am starting on softs which is not good. Undoubtedly I am likely to get dragged past tomorrow, it will make it hard to win the race," the Brit concluded.