Hamilton down grid as Rosberg takes pole

Lewis Hamilton suffered a major blow as an engine problem left him 10th on the grid at the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton’s Mercedes suffered the same hybrid system failure as at the Chinese GP, which he started from last.

Team-mate Nico Rosberg took pole position and is likely to extend his large 36-point championship lead.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was second but has a five-place grid penalty, putting Williams’ Valtteri Bottas on the front row.

‘Never give up’ after nightmare season start

A downcast Hamilton said after qualifying in Russia: “Obviously not a great feeling, but I will try to recover what I can from wherever I start.”

He also faces an investigation from the stewards for not rejoining the track in the correct manner after running wide at Turn Two in the first qualifying session.

Hamilton admitted the season was punishing him, but added: “There is nothing I can do. I never give up.”

Hamilton’s problem is the latest in a series that have afflicted him this year as Rosberg has won the first three races.

Two poor starts left him second and third in the Australian and Bahrain Grands Prix.

He then finished seventh in the last race in China after his power-unit problem, which was with the MGU-H which recovers energy from the turbocharger.

That rendered a five-place grid penalty for an unauthorised gearbox change in Shanghai academic.

Open goal for Rosberg

Rosberg looks to have a clear path to victory because Mercedes have demonstrated crushing superiority so far at the Sochi track on the Black Sea coast.

The German was a massive 0.706 seconds faster than Vettel, whose Ferrari team have slipped back this weekend after showing flashes of pace in the previous races but not delivering on them because of problems.

Rosberg’s margin could have been even bigger – he was 0.842secs after the first laps but then did not complete his second run.

Vettel was second, but will start seventh as a result of his penalty, while his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had a disappointing session, ending up 0.127secs slower than Bottas, who Vettel beat by 0.413secs.

Williams spring a surprise again

Williams’s Felipe Massa was fifth fastest, but will start fourth, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull and Force India’s Sergio Perez, who will be the final driver ahead of Vettel on the grid.

Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat – 0.334secs behind team-mate Ricciardo and just ahead of Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen, who is already the subject of speculation that he will take the Russian’s seat at Red Bull in 2017.

Jenson Button was 12th for McLaren, the team again failing on their ambition to make it into the final qualifying session.

Button’s consolation was that he was two places and 0.106secs ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, the first time the 2009 world champion has out-qualified a McLaren colleague this season.

The third Briton Jolyon Palmer was 18th, but encouraged to be only 0.095secs behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen and feeling that his Renault team had found a problem with the handling of the car that had troubled him since the previous race in China.

More to follow

Russian Grand Prix qualifying results

Russian Grand Prix coverage details

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Hamilton down grid as Rosberg takes pole
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