Nico Rosberg will start from pole position for Sunday’s Chinese GP, while Lewis Hamilton will start from last.
Things only get better for Nico Rosberg, as he set his fastest Q2 time on soft tires while the rest of the top 10 had to use the Supersofts, which will force them to pit in the early laps of Sunday’s GP.
Hamilton entered Saturday’s qualifying session with his mechanics frantically working to resolve an ERS issue on his Mercedes. The three-time World Champion was able to make it out on track but found himself down on power and quickly came back into the pits. He was already set to receive a five-spot grid penalty following a gearbox change entering the weekend.
Another driver who hit drama in the opening qualifying session was Manor Racing’s Pascal Wehrlein, who lost control on Supersoft tires after a giant puddle next to a bump on the frontstraight sent him into a tank-slapper. This led to a lengthy red flag as the track marshals attempted to dry out the racetrack.
More drama came at the end of the second qualifying session when the left front wheel rolled off of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India. That led to a red flag with one minute to go, knocking Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, the two McLarens and the two Saubers out of the session. Meanwhile, Grosjean’s Haas F1 teammate Esteban Gutierrez failed to advance out of Q1. Hulkenberg, meanwhile, was handed a three-place grid penalty.
The Ferrari teammates of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel looked set to give Rosberg a run for his money in Q3, and Raikkonen took provisional pole position during the first set of runs while Vettel elected to stay in the pits. However, Rosberg found half a second in his final run, snatching pole position while Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo pushed Ferrari off of the front row. Vettel made a mistake in the hairpin in his run and so could do no better than fourth.
Unofficial qualifying results:
1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
2. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull
3. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
4. Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
5. Valtteri Bottas - Williams
6. Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull
7. Sergio Perez - Force India
8. Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso
9. Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso
10. Felipe Massa - Williams
11. Fernando Alonso - McLaren
12. Jenson Button - McLaren
13. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India
14. Romain Grosjean - Haas
15. Marcus Ericsson - Sauber
16. Felipe Nasr - Sauber
17. Kevin Magnussen - Renault
18. Esteban Gutierrez - Haas
19. Jolyon Palmer - Renault
20. Rio Haryanto - Manor
21. Pascal Wehrlein - Manor
22. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
