China – Qualifying: Hamilton a breath ahead of Rosberg but far ahead of Ferrari and Williams

Great sunshine and warm temperatures to start this third qualifying session of the 2015 Formula 1 season.

Q1: Quickly, the Ferraris and Mercedes spring into action with medium (white) tires. Vettel sets the initial benchmark time at 1:39.9. However, Hamilton takes the lead followed by Rosberg, with the two Mercedes drivers having over 1.3s advantage over the Scuderia cars on this first attempt with a very high top speed. The midfield drivers start to switch to soft tires, with Hülkenberg setting the third provisional time, ahead of the two Saubers, Perez, Vettel, Button, Räikkönen, and Alonso.

For the second round, the Williams make their appearance, taking advantage of a lull on the track to complete a first lap. Bottas sets the fastest time in Q1, on soft tires, with 1:38.014, quickly overtaken by the Ferraris with Vettel ahead of Räikkönen, also on the softest tires. Massa inserts himself between the two Mercedes, who were the only ones not needing to go back out in Q1 to secure their presence in Q2.

On the red zone side, Kvyat seems to be in trouble but saves himself at the last moment thanks to a disappointing performance from Hülkenberg who remains stuck in Q1. The Manors are well within the 107% and will therefore be at the start of the race.

Eliminated in Q1: Hülkenberg, Button, Alonso, Stevens, and Merhi.

Q2: No rush to start this second part of the qualification. Ericsson is the first on track, but the first reference time is set by Bottas in 1:38.475 quickly overtaken by Hamilton in 1:36.423 who puts another three-tenths between him and Rosberg, the second-best time. In this first round, and without the Ferraris, it’s Grosjean who set the best time behind the Mercedes, in 1:38.097.

But this is evolving as Ferrari is now on the track: Vettel and Räikkönen set times five and seven tenths slower than Hamilton, taking provisional 3rd and 4th places. The Williams cars return to the track, certainly with new soft tires unlike the first attempt. 1:37.7 for Bottas who remains 1.3s behind Hamilton while Massa manages to get within a second of the gap.

The end of Q2 is marked by the battle between the Saubers to get into Q3, and in this little game, it’s Nasr who comes out on top against Ericsson, but both men qualify for the last part of the qualifications. Grosjean manages to advance, but Maldonado falls short at 11th place. Kvyat can’t avoid the red zone this time, just like the two Toro Rossos for the first time this season.

Eliminated in Q2: Maldonado, Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz Jr, and Perez.

Q3: Hamilton is the first of the favorites to start in this Q3. 1:35.782 for the reigning champion, still nearly three-tenths ahead of Rosberg. The Williams are relegated to more than 1.8s from Hamilton’s time. The surprise is that in this first attempt, the Ferraris fail to challenge the two FW37s, as Vettel positions himself between Massa and Bottas, and Räikkönen is only sixth.

The second round begins with Räikkönen struggling in the first sector and trailing by nine-tenths behind Hamilton in the second part. The Finn ends up 1.4 seconds behind Hamilton. This is not the case for Vettel, who manages to secure the second row in front of the two Williams. In the final moments, Rosberg closes in to 42 thousandths of his teammate.

This marks the 41st pole position of Lewis Hamilton’s career!

2015 Chinese Grand Prix – Qualifying