China – Qualification: Rosberg for a first!

The sky is low and gray in Shanghai, rain threatens but does not penetrate the thick curtain, the temperature is not very high on the track, 26°C while it is 21°C in the air. There is a flurry of activity around Felipe Massa’s and Nico Rosberg’s cars, while the McLaren drivers are calmly settled in their cockpits. Lewis Hamilton will start with a handicap since, having changed his gearbox, he will be pushed back 5 places on the starting grid.

Q1: The light turns green, and the first driver on track is Paul di Resta in the Force India on medium (white) tires. Massa sets the first significant time at 1:37.964, narrowly overtaken by Hülkenberg, then by Senna, Grosjean, Button, and Hamilton who clocks 1:36.763. Less than thirteen minutes remain in this first part of the session: the Red Bulls and the Mercedes have still not set a timed lap. Vettel takes third place, and Webber sets the provisional best time at 1:36.682. Schumacher and Rosberg secure themselves, three-tenths behind the Australian. Button improves, on medium tires, and takes second position at the expense of his teammate. Kobayashi, also on mediums, is fourth. There are just over seven minutes left in this part of the session.

At the back, no surprises for the smaller teams who are well below the 107%. Vergne is in the elimination zone, less than two-tenths behind Ricciardo. On the Ferrari side, Massa is already forced to put on the soft (yellow) tires to secure his place, which he does by setting a 1:36.556, the fastest time so far. He is not the only one using the soft tires as Grosjean, Alonso, and Pérez also make significant improvements and take turns at the top of the session. The hierarchy is disrupted as Q1 comes to a close.

Eliminated in Q1: Vergne, Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, Pic, De la Rosa, and Karthikeyan

Q2: Kobayashi is the first to leave the pits. However, two minutes have already passed in this second part of the session. Everyone is on track except the Frenchman Romain Grosjean. 1:35.921 for Räikkönen, just ahead of the Japanese driver. Rosberg improves by two tenths, Schumacher is just behind his teammate, followed by Hamilton. Grosjean is struggling with the Lotus and does not set a time, preferring to return to put on a new set of tires.

Six minutes remaining in the session. Vettel and Webber, who are the first to complete a second timed lap, do not really improve: 6th and 8th respectively. The Ferraris improve, with Alonso taking 6th place from Vettel and Massa provisionally in 10th. The top four, namely Rosberg, Schumacher, Hamilton, and Räikkönen, remain in their pits waiting for the final minutes. The Saubers slot in behind the Mercedes. At the end of Q2, Webber takes the fastest time, Grosjean places seventh in the last seconds while Vettel fails to improve. He is eliminated! The double World Champion falls behind Fernando Alonso while Jenson Button narrowly avoids elimination, finishing only ninth.

Eliminated in Q2: Vettel, Massa, Maldonado, Senna, Di Resta, Hülkenberg, and Ricciardo

Q3: Räikkönen is the first on the track as the sky becomes increasingly threatening. The Mercedes and Hamilton take to the track in turn. There are therefore only four on the track at the moment. 1:35.898 for the Finn, and Rosberg improves the time of the Lotus by seven-tenths, with 1:35.121. Schumacher falls half a second short of his teammate, just like Hamilton right ahead of the seven-time champion.

There are still five minutes left and Webber finally goes out. Pérez too. The others wait patiently and will only have one lap to play their card. The Australian is far back in fifth position, more than a second behind Rosberg, who is already walking in the pit lane. The Mercedes driver may already know he has secured the pole for the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. Pérez is sixth. Button, still struggling, clocks a 1:36.191 which places him sixth, as Kobayashi takes the provisional fourth place with a 1:35.784.

It’s the end of this session, and it’s Nico Rosberg who takes pole position, the first of his career! It’s also Mercedes’ first since their return in 2010. The German driver is followed by Lewis Hamilton, who will be seventh on the grid due to a gearbox change penalty, and Schumacher. The front row will be 100% Silver Arrows, a first since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix!

Noteworthy is the good performance of Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber, finishing 4th in the session and thus starting from the third position tomorrow. The Japanese driver is not to be forgotten. Räikkönen posted the fifth fastest time in the session, while his teammate in the Lotus did not complete his timed lap. Grosjean will start 10th. Webber is 7th.

Results of the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix Qualifying: