F1 Chinese Grand Prix: Hamilton secures third pole in a row

Lewis Hamilton struck his Mercedes on pole position for the third race running after setting the fastest time in qualifying for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.

On a set of Pirelli soft tyres (which are the option tyres for the weekend), Hamilton lapped the Shanghai International Circuit in 1:35.782 to take provisional pole position. The reigning F1 world champion, however, failed to improve his lap on his final run, allowing teammate Nico Rosberg to come agonizingly close with a lap that was just 0.042 seconds slower.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel qualified nearly a second behind in third place with 2007 F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen further down in sixth position after struggling with traction in the rear tyres in turns three and four while trying to accelerate.

Williams were able to separate the Ferrari duo by locking fourth and fifth positions on the grid, with Brazilian Felipe Massa edging Valtteri Bottas by three tenths off a second.

Daniel Ricciardo propelled the sole Q3 starting Red Bull to seventh place, ahead of the Lotus of Romain Grosjean who made it to the top 10 shootout for the third race in a trot

Both the Saubers made it to the final leg of qualifying with Felipe Nasr the quicker of the duo in ninth place. The two drivers were separated by less than a 10th of the second in qualifying.

Earlier in Q2, Pastor Maldonado was the first victim of the dropout zone and was joined by an equally disappointed Daniil Kyvat in the second Red Bull.

Neither of the Toro Rossos made it into Q3 after a strong showing in Malaysia a fortnight ago while Sergio Perez completed the top 15 for Force India.

After displaying promising pace in practice, the Honda powered McLarens struggled to get out of Q1 with Jenson Button piping Fernando Alonso by just four thousandths of a second for the 17 spot on the grid.

Both Manor cars qualified well within the 107% rule and will occupy the final row of the grid. Will Stevens is likely to make his first race start for the team after missing the first two events due to mechanical and software issues relating to the car.

F1 Chinese GP - Qualifying results

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m 35.782s
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 1m 35.824s
3. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1m 36.687s
4. Felipe Massa (Williams-Mercedes) 1m 36.954s
5. Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Mercedes) 1m 37.143s
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 1m 37.232s
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull-Renault)  1m 37.540s
8. Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Mercedes) 1m 37.905s
9. Felipe Nasr (Sauber-Ferrari) 1m 38.067s
10. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber-Ferrari) 1m 38.158s
11. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus-Mercedes) 1m 38.134s
12. Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull-Renault) 1m 38.209s
13. Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso-Renault) 1m 38.393s
14. Carlos Sainz Jr (Toro Rosso-Renault) 1m 38.538s
15. Sergio Perez (Force India-Mercedes) 1m 39.290s
16. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) 1m 39.216s
17. Jenson Button (McLaren-Honda) 1m 39.276s
18. Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Honda) 1m 39.280s
19. Will Stevens (Manor-Ferrari) 1m 42.091s
20. 20. Roberto Merhi (Manor-Ferrari) 1m 42.842s