Hamilton on Chinese GP pole ahead of Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton will still be a serious contender for victory at the Chinese Grand Prix since the driver Mercedes won his third pole of the season, the 34th of his career, at the end of a qualifying session contested in the rain. The 2008 world champion dominated all the sessions before setting a time of 1'53"860, relegating his closest opponent to more than half a second. Daniel Ricciardo will leave alongside him after once again beating his teammate Sebastian Vettel which bows five tenths late. Nico Rosberg completes the second row while the German seemed to be able to aim for the first row. But the driver from the Brackley team made a mistake in his last two flying laps.

Fernando Alonso hoist first Ferrari in fifth position while his teammate Kimi Räikkönen is still in difficulty after failing at the gates of Q2. The Asturian will leave in front of the Williams by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas who found the solution to make the FW36 more effective in the rain. While Nico Hulkenberg took eighth place, the French Jean-Éric Vergne and Romain Grosjean complete the top ten of the grid. This is the first time this season that the Lotus driver has qualified in Q3. His teammate Pastor Maldonado was unable to take part in the session, his E22 having been dismantled following its problem during the last free practice session.

McLaren suffered in the rain since its two drivers did not secure a place in the last session. Jenson Button is only 12th on the grid while Kevin Magnussen will only start from 15th place behind Sergio Pérez. The Dane will be preceded by Daniil Kvyat and Adrian Sutil. Esteban Gutiérrez was the first out in Q1. The Mexican will start in front Kamui Kobayashi, Jules Bianchi, Marcus Ericsson and Max Chilton.

The start of the Chinese Grand Prix will be given tomorrow at 9 a.m. French time. Photos of the tests can be found on this link.