Vettel to start Azerbaijan GP from pole position

German driver Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari on Saturday recorded the best time in the qualifying session of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he claimed his third pole position in a row after doing so in Bahrain and China, and the 53rd of his career pole.

He will start from the pole position in search of a new victory thanks to his best lap of one minute and 41.498 seconds, reports Efe.

"I felt the car was good Q1 and Q2 so I knew in the final session I knew I have the car to do what I want. The first lap I was really happy. Fortunately that was enough," the Formula One World Championship leader tweeted.

Vettel is to be joined in the front row by Briton Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, the defending champion.

Finnish Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) will start third.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo of Australia, winner of the 2017 Azerbaijan GP, is set to start from the fourth position, followed by Dutchman teammate Max Verstappen.

Spaniards Fernando Alonso (McLaren) and Carlos Sainz (Renault) had mixed fortune in the qualifying sessions as the former was eliminated in the Q2, while the latter came 10th on the time sheet.

However, Sainz is to start Sunday's race from the ninth position, taking advantage of a five-place grid penalty that was handed to Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), who was ninth in the qualifying.

--IANS

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