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Lewis Hamilton
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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton secured 96th pole position in the tenth Formula 1 race of the season.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was surprisingly strong, finishing second ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas.
In the race on Sunday (1:10 p.m., live ticker: SPIEGEL.de; TV: RTL, Sky) at the Russian Grand Prix, Hamilton can set Michael Schumacher's record with the 91st victory of his career.
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel retired in the second round of qualification after an accident.
The Ferrari driver crashed his car into the lane after a driving error.
Vettel was uninjured - but his company car was severely damaged.
The German starts from 15th place. His team-mate Charles Leclerc did not get past eleventh place in the again weak SF1000.
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