Lewis Hamilton, flanked by Daniel Ricciardo (left) and Sebastian Vettel (right) pose for photographers after Saturday’s qualifying session for the Grand Prix of China. For Hamilton, it was his third pole victory in four races. [Photo by Getty Images]
SHANGHAI, China- Taking a challenge from not only the rainy weather but threats for the first time this season from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel , Lewis Hamilton kept his cool to record a 1:53:60 fastest lap time to win his third pole position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of China.
“It was a tough session today”, he said, “but I really enjoyed it. It’s definitely the most satisfying feeling to come away with pole position in these wet conditions because the track is so slippery and you need to find the grip to put the lap together. The car felt great and the team have done a fantastic job this weekend. Our rivals look closer in the wet conditions, so we’ll be hoping it’s a dry race to take advantage of the position we’re in.”
Most of the drivers began the first session with wet tires, but one of them, Pastor Maldonado, ended up not starting at all, still reeling from a sensor failure in the morning’s final practice session, and will have to possibly start the race from the pit lane.
Kimi Raikkonen had a frightening final minutes in this session, when the Finn dropped his Ferrari down into the last eliminated five drivers positions. However, with the luck of Esteban Gutierrez in his Sauber, Raikkonen managed just to get into a higher position that would see him move on to the next qualifying session.
The visibility finally picked up in the second session, but the switch to intermediate tires by Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Vettel, made it harder for them to get a good grip around the first corner. After sustaining a problem so far this season, Romain Grosjean finally made it to the last session, which proved that the Lotus finally along with the Renault engine, could be finally coming around. However, despite this, Hamilton still edged out Nico Rosberg to win the second session.
But Hamilton had no trouble even in the last session, and even with the Red Bulls challenging him, the Briton made it clear that even after a tough moment the previous day, he could come out on top. Ricciardo took second ahead of teammate Vettel, while the rest of the grid followed with Rosberg fourth, Alonso fifth, while the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Nico Hulkenberg took eighth, while the French pair of Jean-Eric Vergne and Grosjean finished out the top ten.
For Sunday’s race, which expects to be run in dry conditions, Hamilton was a little cautious about how the new set up could affect how he will run.
“We go into the race with a little bit of an unknown because after I struggled in practice on Friday. Commented Hamilton. “We made a lot of changes to the car and I haven’t yet had a chance to try them in the dry. It felt pretty good in the wet, though, so I’m hopeful that we can convert our pole position into a strong race performance tomorrow.”