The 30-year-old German, who leads this year’s title race by 36 points after winning the opening three races in succession, clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 35.417 seconds to take the prime spot on the grid.
This left him over seven-tenths of a second clear of Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari after defending three-time world champion Hamilton had been hit by another engine failure during the Q2 part of the qualifying session.
Hamilton was unable to take part in Q3 and provisionally will line up in 10th place on the grid.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (end of Q3) #Quali #RussianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/i8H9xd5OxD
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 30, 2016