Lance ready to ‘fight for points’ in Sochi

Lance to line up P7 for Formula One’s Russian Grand Prix after damp conditions cause chaos in qualifying.

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The final practice session of the weekend was abandoned due to heavy rain, but with the weather set to improve for the afternoon, qualifying was given the green light.

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In a damp Q1 session, Lance began on the Intermediate Pirelli tyres and quickly started his charge to advance into Q2.

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On his first run, Lance was able to slot himself into P4 with a 1:51.136 run but, with track conditions improving and lap times falling, he was unable to maintain position, falling down the timings.

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As Q1 drew to a close, Lance was able to put in a 1.48.322 lap time to secure his place into Q2 as he ended the session in P12.

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In Q2, with the still drying track, Lance opted to continue running the Intermediate tyres, putting in his first run to take him into P4 in the timings.

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In the final five minutes of Q2, Lance put in a 1:46.439 lap time to comfortably secure a place in Q3.

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In the final part of qualifying, Lance began the session on the Intermediate tyres for his first run, putting in a 1:45.415 lap time and taking him into P3.

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Due to the improving track conditions, the Canadian driver pitted to change from the Intermediates and onto a new set of Softs for the remainder of the session.

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With a 1.44.956 lap time, Lance was able to secure P8 ahead of Sunday’s race.

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Due to an engine penalty for Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, Lance will move up one position into P7 where he will start the Russian Grand Prix.

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Lance Stroll – Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team Driver

“I am happy that we made it into Q3 and P8 is a good starting position to fight for points tomorrow. We made a decent step forward compared to yesterday and the team did a good job in challenging conditions. I do think there was more on the table on the last lap, though. What affected the lap most was traffic in the last sector [caused by Sergio Perez] and my lap time was hurt under braking into Turns 13, 14 and 15. I also had issues with Daniel [Ricciardo] getting in my way in Q1. It was a bit frustrating, but we will look ahead to tomorrow now. It is a long run to the first braking point here and there is a lot of slipstreaming, so let us see what happens on Sunday.”

The Russian Grand Prix will get underway at 13:00BST on Sunday September 26.

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