Hamilton snatches Chinese GP pole position
Raikkonen second, Alonso third.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has grabbed today his 27th career pole position ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix at the Shanghai International circuit in China.
The Briton clocked a best time of 1:34.484 in his single attempt in Q3, beating by 0.277 seconds Lotus Renault F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen (1:34.761).
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso clocked up the third fastest time (1:34.788) ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg (1:34.861), team-mate Felipe Massa (1:34.933), Lotus Renault’s Romain Grosjean (1:35.364) and Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo (1:35.998).
McLaren’s Jenson Button set a slow lap for the 8th position on the grid while Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg chose not to set a time in their Q3 attempt and opted for medium tyres for the first part of tomorrow’s race.
Force India’s Paul Di Resta qualified 11th ahead of McLaren’s Sergio Perez, team-mate Adrian Sutil, Red Bull’s Mark Webber who had a fuel pressure problem in Q2, Williams’ Pastor Maldonado, Toro Rosso’s Jean Eric Vergne, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez.
19th and 20th time for Marussia’s Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton ahead of Caterham’s duo Charles Pic and Giedo Van der Garde.
2013 Chinese Grand Prix, Qualifying Session results:
Pos. | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:35.793 | 1:35.078 | 1:34.484 | 9 |
2 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:37.046 | 1:35.659 | 1:34.761 | 11 |
3 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:36.253 | 1:35.148 | 1:34.788 | 12 |
4 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:35.959 | 1:35.537 | 1:34.861 | 9 |
5 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:35.972 | 1:35.403 | 1:34.933 | 12 |
6 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:36.929 | 1:36.065 | 1:35.364 | 9 |
7 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:36.993 | 1:36.258 | 1:35.998 | 15 |
8 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:36.667 | 1:35.784 | 2:05.673 | 12 |
9 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:36.537 | 1:35.343 | 13 | |
10 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:36.985 | 1:36.261 | 11 | |
11 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37.478 | 1:36.287 | 9 | |
12 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:36.952 | 1:36.314 | 10 | |
13 | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:37.349 | 1:36.405 | 11 | |
14 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:36.148 | 1:36.679 | 6 | |
15 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:37.281 | 1:37.139 | 10 | |
16 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:37.508 | 1:37.199 | 12 | |
17 | 17 | ValtteriBottas | Williams-Renault | 1:37.769 | 3 | ||
18 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:37.990 | 5 | ||
19 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:38.780 | 6 | ||
20 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:39.537 | 3 | ||
21 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:39.614 | 6 | ||
22 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:39.660 | 6 | ||
Q1 107% Time | 1:42.498 |