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 Hamilton, unbeaten in qualifying this year, lapped the 5.451 km
Shanghai International Circuit in one minute 35.782 seconds to take
his 41st career pole just 0.042 of a second clear of Rosberg.
"Oh, come on guys," exclaimed a frustrated Rosberg when informed
over the radio that he had lost out by such a small margin.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, winner of the previous race in Malaysia,
will start third.
Ferrari, who were helped by a bold strategy gamble and searing
temperatures at Sepang, continued to lead the chasing pack but were
unable to match Mercedes’ formidable one-lap pace in the cooler
conditions.
Vettel’s best time was nearly a second off Hamilton’s benchmark.
However, the Ferrari's race pace remained a concern for Mercedes and
Hamilton, who was fastest in all three practice sessions.
"I wasn’t very happy with it but great job by the team and all the
guys back at the factory," he said of his record fifth pole in
China.
"You can’t really get too excited, even though it’s a pole position
so it’s quite special.
"There’s a long, long race ahead of us tomorrow...they (Ferrari) are
very quick here and they’ve been quick here in the past. This should
be still quite a close race."
Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finland's Valtteri Bottas, seeking to
re-establish their Williams team as Mercedes’ closest challengers,
were fourth and fifth ahead of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in sixth.
Raikkonen's lap was a disappointment after a promising showing in
practice by the 2007 world champion.
"Maybe it is my fault. Maybe it just happened. But it is
disappointing anyhow," he said. "It is not a complete disaster but
it seems to become a habit. I would rather get rid of it."
ONLY SEVENTH
Former champions Red Bull, who had looked the third-best team after
final practice, dropped back with Australian Daniel Ricciardo only
seventh while Russian team mate Daniil Kvyat failed to even make it
into the top 10.
[to top of second column] |
Ricciardo, however, still saw grounds for optimism.
"Driveability has improved and our long-run pace is better, I think
we should be closer to Williams tomorrow and I am optimistic we can
have a good fight for top five," he said.
McLaren had another bleak afternoon and failed to make it past the
first session of qualifying for the third successive weekend, once
again qualifying ahead of only the backmarking Manor Marussias.
Both Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso had hoped to make it into the
second phase after an encouraging Friday but in the end missed the
cut by just over two tenths of a second and will start 17th and 18th
respectively.
Manor Marussia got both cars on the grid for the first time this
season in a sign of progress for a team that started the year in
administration.
"There’s still a long way to go but the progress over the past three
weekends is clear for everyone to see," said Britain's Will Stevens,
who has yet to race this season but qualified 19th.
(Editing by Alan Baldwin and Ed Osmond)
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