Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/975483
maltatoday SUNDAY 29 APRIL 2018 53 FORMULA 1 Sports QUALIFYING: Vettel makes it three poles in a row as he beats Hamilton in Baku HE struggled on Friday, but Se- bastian Vettel found that little bit of magic once more yesterday afternoon in Azerbaijan as he captured his third pole position in a row. However, Kimi Raik- konen blew Ferrari's hopes of a front-row lockout after making a crucial mistake in the last sec- tor of his final run. Up until that point the Finn had looked set to steal pole position away from his team mate, but instead he'll line up in P6 as Lewis Hamilton held onto second place for Mer- cedes. The Briton, lying second to Vettel in the world champion- ship, finished 0.179s behind the German and a couple of tenths ahead of Silver Arrows team mate Valtteri Bottas. The Red Bulls of Daniel Ric- ciardo and Max Verstappen were next up in fourth and fifth, the former pipping his team mate after gratefully picking up a tow from a recovering Raik- konen. Completing the top 10 in what was a thrilling session were the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez, making their first Q3 appearances of the year, and the Renaults of Nico Hulk- enberg (who entered qualif y- ing with a five-place grid drop hanging over him) and Carlos Sainz. Q1 had begun with drama al- most from the off. The session was barely four minutes old when Romain Grosjean become the first casualty. A huge lock- up at Turn 3 forced him to take the escape road, causing a big f lat spot on his front-left tyre – and ultimately a gearbox issue ended his day before it had even properly begun. As has been the pattern this season, Raikkonen started the qualif ying process in impressive fashion and was the better of the two Ferraris at the beginning of Q1. With all 10 constructors run- ning on the quickest ultrasoft tyres early on, Force India con- tinued to show signs of improve- ment with Ocon temporarily going P2 ahead of Mercedes and Red Bull. Ocon's team mate, Perez, per- haps tried too hard to match the Frenchman's exploits. Turn 15 proved to be a big ask once again, with the Mexican over- cooking the corner and ruining a set of tyres. The opening session was be- ginning to hot up, with Raik- konen still leading the way, when the Toro Rosso pair of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hart- ley almost collided in what was a very lucky escape. A slow-moving Hartley was limping out of Turn 14 after suffering a puncture when an onrushing Gasly rounded the corner and came within inches of colliding full speed into the back of the Kiwi. Both Toro Rossos ultimately exited Q1, and were followed by McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne, Sauber's Marcus Ericsson - the only driver to fail to reach Q2 this season - and Grosjean. On a positive note, rookies Charles Leclerc and Sergey Sirotkin moved into Q2 for the first time this year. The second segment saw the top three teams – Ferrari, Mer- cedes and Red Bull – send all their drivers out on supersoft rubber with an eye on tomor- row's race, while the rest of the field emerged on ultrasofts. And, similar to the opening session, it didn't take long for the tricky corners to bring out the best and worst of the driv- ers. Raikkonen suffered most af- ter making a costly mistake and f lat-spotting his tyres, forcing him to retreat to the pits for ultrasofts - a switch that will surely compromise him in the race when all around him will start on more durable rubber. The Finn did at least put the his purple tyres to good use, ending the session just over a tenth quicker than Hamilton as the Williams of Lance Stroll and Sirotkin, along with McLar- en's Fernando Alonso, Sauber's Leclerc and Haas's Kevin Mag- nussen (whose car lost body- work at one stage) were the un- fortunate ones to fail to reach Q3. So, who would come up with the goods in the all-important final session? Ferrari laid down the gauntlet when Vettel pro- duced a superb lap to move to the top, an impressive 0.342s ahead of Hamilton. And that lap would ultimately prove enough for the German to secure his first hat-trick of pole positions since 2013 on a day when Ferrari on speed alone should have scored the 60th front row lockout in their F1 history. With the first four on the grid lining up in championship order and major gusts predicted to hit Baku today, the stage is set for what promises to be a thrilling Grand Prix. The key stats • Vettel's pole was his third in a row - the first time he has achieved that feat in this turbo hybrid era (last time: Italy, Sin- gapore, Korea 2013) • Hamilton will start a Grand Prix on the front row for the first time since the season-opening race in Australia • Indeed, Hamilton managed to out-qualify Mercedes team mate Bottas for only the second time in the last six races • Raikkonen's sixth place is his worst-ever start in Baku, and the first time this season that he isn't second on the grid • Ricciardo and Verstappen have now out-qualified each other at alternating races in 2018 • Ocon has given Force India their best starting slot of 2018 with seventh place - it was also the first time this season that both their cars reached Q3 • Rookies Sirotkin and Leclerc progressed to Q2 for the first time in their F1 careers • Williams ended their streak of back-to-back Q1 eliminations with both cars. Stroll will start in tenth following Hulkenberg's five-place grid penalty Formula One legend Ayrton Senna's suit used in 1987 Monaco victory up for auction 24 years after tragic death FEW people reach such a sta- tus that others would pay tons of money for clothing they wore in hours-long, sweaty athletic events, and, when phrased like that, it sounds weird regardless of whose clothing it is. But For- mula One legend Ayrton Senna reached that status, and one of his race suits is up for auction soon. SENNA, who won three F1 cham- pionships and recently had a new McLaren model named after him, is widely thought to be one of the best F1 drivers of all time. He died in a crash at the San Ma- rino Grand Prix in May of 1994, when he was 34 years old and at the top of his driving career. The suit up for auction is one that Senna wore during the 1987 season, which was his last with Lotus. He won two races and finished third in the standings that year, behind Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell. The suit will be on an RM Sotheby's lot at the company's Monaco auction in May, just over 24 years after Sen- na's death. The auction listing says Senna wore the suit when he won in Monaco that year, and when he finished on the podium in seven other races. Senna gave the race suit to the brother of his physiotherapist, ac- cording to the listing, who kept it as a "lucky charm" for a few years before selling it. It was later sold to a Monaco gallery, which is where it is now. It's signed by Senna on one of the patches. According to the listing, the suit has no reserve price to meet before the seller will let it go. But that doesn't mean it will go cheaply — a driving suit of Senna went for more than $76,000 in 2014, according to Hemmings, and Motor Author- ity reported that a helmet of his sold for more than $114,000 at auction in 2012.