Chinese Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton storms to Shanghai pole

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Lewis Hamilton secured his third pole position of the season by storming the Shanghai International Circuit in 1:53.860.

On a wet track, Hamilton set the benchmark during the first run in Q3, leaving others to play catch up in their second runs. Under such circumstances, Nico Rosberg came under pressure and ruined both his flying laps with the result that he ended up fourth in the session.”It was a tough session but I really enjoyed it. The car’s feeling great,” an elated Hamilton said afterwards.

Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull was calm and cool as he again beat his four time world champion teammate in qualifying. The Australian lapped his RB10 around the Shanghai circuit in 1:54.455 to secure second position on the grid ahead of Sebastian Vettel who couldn’t improve on his final flying lap.

Fifth place went to Fernando Alonso who ran the sole Ferrari in Q3 after his teammate Kimi Raikkonen was eliminated in Q2.

Williams have been rather average in wet conditions this season but Massa and Bottas made it a thing of the past after successfully making it into Q3 and putting their Martini stripes car in sixth and seventh on the grid.

Both Nico Hulkenberg and Jean Eric Vergne outqualified their teammates in Shanghai, ending up eight and ninth on the grid.

Romain Grosjean also deserves some credit for putting his dismal Lotus E22 into Q3 for the first time this season. But having ruined his first flying lap, he couldn’t go any faster than P10.

Q2 threw multiple shocks with both the McLarens and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen failing to make the cut as the conditions worsened at the session, leaving those relying on a quick lap at the end on the backfoot. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil and Force India’s Sergio Perez joined this trio in the list of drivers who failed to make into the final leg of qualifying.

In Q1, Esteban Gutierrez joined backmarkers Caterham and Marussia as well as Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado who didn’t start qualifying on mechanical qualifying.

S. NoDriverTeamTimeLaps
1Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:53.86021
2Daniel RicciardoRed Bull1:54.45523
3Sebastian VettelRed Bull1:54.96023
4Nico RosbergMercedes1:55.14322
5Fernando AlonsoFerrari1:55.63721
6Felipe MassaWilliams1:56.14724
7Valtteri BottasWilliams1:56.28224
8Nico HulkenbergForce India1:56.36623
9Jean Eric VergneToro Rosso1:56.77323
10Romain GrosjeanLotus1:57.07922
11Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1:56.86017
12Jenson ButtonMcLaren1:56.96317
13Daniil KvyatToro Rosso1:57.28918
14Adrian SutilSauber1:57.39317
15Kevin MagnussenMcLaren1:57.67517
16Sergio PerezForce India1:58.26417
17Esteban GutierrezSauber1:58.98810
18Kamui KobayashiCaterham1:59.26010
19Jules BianchiMarussia1:59.32610
20Marcus EricssonCaterham2:00.64610
21Max ChiltonMarussia2:00.86510
22Pastor MaldonadoLotusNo time0

by Rachit Thukral

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Edited by Staff Editor