Three in a row for Vettel, Hamilton shares front row

Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel smiled with relief Saturday after he had claimed pole for Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of a revived Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes in a crash-strewn qualifying session.

The German, who leads the defending four-time champion by nine points after three races this season, clocked a best lap in one minute and 41.498 seconds to sweep to the prime starting spot.

It was an emphatic demonstration of his and Ferrari's pace after he had struggled in practice on Friday. It was his third consecutive pole position and the 53rd of his career.

"In the end, I knew I had the car I wanted and it did what I wanted... The first lap was good and it was good enough in the end so I am happy," said Vettel.

Hamilton was 0.179 seconds adrift after an improved showing that left him ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo and his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen.

"That was close," said Hamilton.

"We did the best job we could and I think I lost a little bit in the final sector, but Sebastian did a great job. We are in the mix and I am hoping to give him a hard time in the race."
Bottas said: "We can fight them here and we are starting very close. This race can be crazy, but we have a good starting point."
- 'Unacceptable' -
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"Sorry guys," said Hartley. "I was trying to get out of the way, but it was too late. I went the wrong way. I feel pretty stupid."