SOCHI, Russia – Lewis Hamilton secured the 96th pole of his Formula One career on Saturday with a solid performance during qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom.

Hamilton claimed the pole thanks to a best lap of 1:31.304 during Q3 to claim the pole over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who came up more than half a second off the pace set by Hamilton.

The reigning Formula One kingpin nearly didn’t make it into Q3 to race for the pole after having his fastest lap deleted by officials for exceeding track limits in Q2.

A crash by Sebastian Vettel with two minutes left in Q2 made things tense for Hamilton, who was out on track attempting a fast lap when the session was halted for Vettel’s crash. When qualifying resumed Hamilton was able to get across the line to start his fast lap with two seconds to spare.

That lap was enough to leave him third in Q2 and advance him into Q3, with the end result being Hamilton’s 96th career pole.

“That was one of the toughest qualifying sessions I can remember, proper heart in your mouth the whole way,” Hamilton said. “But I feel super grateful for everyone keeping their cool as it could have been a lot, lot worse. Q2 was hugely challenging, my first attempt was taken away for going over the track limits at the final corner. The team brought me in for refuelling and to fit new tires but when I was on my second lap, the red flag came out. After that, it was very close to still get that final lap in – I overtook a few cars in the last sector but then lost time behind a Renault. I just heard Bono say ‘go, go, go’, so I was gunning it to get across the line. There was so much going on and I had to just calm down and find my center.”

Valtteri Bottas, who appeared the fastest of the two Mercedes drivers all weekend, ended up qualifying third behind Hamilton and Verstappen.

“Valtteri had been strong all weekend, so I had no choice but to deliver with those final Q3 laps,” Hamilton said. “The first lap in the final session was really great, and I thought it would be difficult to improve, but I managed to find a tiny bit on the second lap. It’s nice to take pole position, but this track is probably the worst place to be on pole, due to the long run to the first braking zone. So, I’m expecting a tough fight down to turn two and a challenging race, especially as I’m starting on the soft tire, which is a good compound for the race start but is the worst tire for the opening stint. We’ll sit down tonight and figure out the best approach to the race.”

Sergio Perez qualified fourth for Racing Point, with Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo qualifying fifth after topping Q2. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr., Renault’s Esteban Ocon, McLaren’s Lando Norris, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Red Bull’s Alexander Albon completed the top-10.