Lewis Hamilton will aim for a 3rd Chinese Grand Prix victory in Shanghai on Sunday after taking pole position on Saturday with a best lap of 1m 34.484s in the final, Q3 qualifying session in which everyone minimised mileage in order to preserve their tyres.
The 2008 world champion was understandably delighted with his first pole position since joining Mercedes and will be joined on the front row by Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, who had earlier set fastest time with 1m 34.761s. However, the Finn may be investigated after Adrian Sutil claimed that he impeded him during his final run in Q1.
Fernando Alonso finished third for Ferrari with 1m 34.788s, ahead of Nico Rosberg on 1m 34.861s and the other Ferrari of Felipe Massa on 1m 34.933s.
Sebastian Vettel will start a lowly ninth for Red Bull, but with a free choice of tyres for the race after failing to log a time in Q3. The reigning world champion – who along with Button opted to run medium rubber in the final session – aborted his final run after a problem under braking at the hairpin. Nico Hulkenberg also failed to log a time and will start tenth for Sauber after tactically opting not to complete a flying lap.
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m34.484s 2. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m34.761s + 0.277 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m34.788s + 0.304 4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m34.861s + 0.377 5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m34.933s + 0.449 6. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m35.364s + 0.880 7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m35.998s + 1.514 8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 2m05.673s + 31.189 9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault no time 10. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari no time
