Surprise, surprise, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position for tomorrow’s Russian Grand Prix. The 6-time World Champion almost didn’t make it into Q3 after having his lap time deleted.

But he managed to save his blushes in the dying moments of Q2. However, not everything is as rosy for Hamilton as it seems. In fact, the Briton is under investigation for an infringement.

The incident under investigation pertains to Lewis’ off-track adventure during Q1. Hamilton ran wide in Turn 2 and had his lap time deleted, but the FIA stewards have adjudged that Lewis didn’t join the track in accordance with the rules.

Lewis was supposed to go around the directional bollards, but instead, he went straight on and rejoined the action.

When questioned about the investigation post-qualifying, Hamilton said, “I have no idea what that is. But there’s always going to be something isn’t there.”

It’ll definitely be interesting to see what kind of punishment is dished out. The worst-case scenario is that he yields his pole position to Max Verstappen. The best-case scenario is that he gets away with a fine and a warning.

It wasn’t the worst of breaches, so he might get to keep his pole position, but that might not necessarily make him too happy. Given a choice, he would love to start behind the pole sitter and use the tow to overtake the person in front of him on the long starting straight in Sochi.

It wasn’t the easiest route to pole for Lewis Hamilton

For a driver used to starting at the front of the grid, this was anything but a cakewalk. As mentioned previously, he had his times chalked off (once each in Q1 and Q2). It was a scramble to qualify, especially in Q2.

Especially after time had almost run out when the red flags came out following Sebastian Vettel’s crash. Nevertheless, he got himself into Q3. However, he’d be disappointed to start the race on the softs instead of the mediums.

Nevertheless, in the final qualifying session when it really mattered, Hamilton delivered, as he has for so long.

Teammate Valtteri Bottas was having a good weekend, but Hamilton was just different gravy yet again. The Briton belted out an unbelievably good lap, sealing pole position with a scorching 1.31.3 lap time.

Let’s hope the Russian Grand Prix is as thrilling as the last two races in Italy.