The Sunday News
Lewis Hamilton ended a messy qualifying session at the Grand Prix of Europe with a crash, smashed suspension and 10th on the grid. The world champion dominated practice but a string of errors ended with contact with the inside wall at Turn 11 as team-mate Nico Rosberg took pole. Hamilton faces a fight in the race to limit the damage to his title bid.
Force India’s Sergio Perez took second ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo but starts seventh after a penalty.
The Mexican’s gearbox had to be changed after a crash at Turn 15 in final practice.
Ricciardo pipped Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel with his final lap — improving by 1,3 seconds over his first run in Q3. Vettel set the exact same time as the Australian, but will start behind him because he posted it later.
Hamilton had looked sublime from the moment he took to the challenging new street track in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, fastest in every practice session until the start of qualifying.
But he never quite got it together when it mattered. — BBC Sport
