RacingNation.com
Home / F1 / Hamilton Takes First Mercedes Pole In China

Hamilton Takes First Mercedes Pole In China

After dominating the first two qualifying
sessions Saturday after noon, Lewis Hamilton recorded a 1:34:484 best time in
the final session to take his first pole for the Mercedes works team in history
for Sunday’s Grand Prix of China at the Shanghai International Circuit. Kimi
Raikkonen was only three tenths behind in second, while Fernando Alonso in his
Ferrari was third.

“Pole
position is a great result for us today and to achieve it in my third race for
the team is such a good feeling. I had to make sure the radio was off after my
engineer told me I had pole because I was so excited!” he exclaimed. “None of
us expected this level of performance at this stage of the season and it’s a
real bonus. The guys have just been working away, pushing really hard, and I’m
so pleased for everyone back at the factories and here at the track that I’ve
been able to deliver my first pole in a Silver Arrow.”

Despite Hamilton’s quick time, the opening session
was quite dull as most of the drivers did not come out onto the track for four
minutes.. However, when the cars finally appeared, Hamilton set the fastest
time of the session, with a 1:35:743, while both drivers from the Maurussia and
Caterham teams along with Valtteri Bottas and Estaban Gutierrez were knocked
out of the round.

The second session got also off to a slow start, but
with six minutes to go, Mark Webber encountered a fuel pressure problem and
retired his Infiniti/ Red Bull car to the side of the road. The Australian had
his best time hold for most of the session, until the last few cars knocked him
out of the round. However, following the session, no fuel was found in Webber’s
car, which was a FIA rules violation. This disqualifies Webber from the session
and he will now start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid.

“It’s
very disappointing. Q1 went okay; I was comfortable with the car and we had a
good plan for the rest of the session.” Said Webber. “In Q2 we lost fuel
pressure so I had to turn the car off and couldn’t get it back to the pits. I
had to stop on the circuit, so qualifying was over before it started really. We
need a bit of luck now; it’s not the optimum starting position, but we still
have to try to get something from there.”

Paul Di
Resta, along with Sergio Perez were also knocked out of the round. Hamilton
ended up with the fastest time again.

In the final session, many cars were waiting for a
huge period of time. As the first car came out with eight minutes to go, Sebastian
Vettel took the first risk of the day, coming out on medium tires, while Jenson
Button joined him doing the same. But the rest of the grid came out on softs,
and it was Hamilton, who used these compounds, maintained his composure and
took his first pole in only his third race with his new team.

Nico Rosberg brought in the rest of the grid and
finished in fourth, while Felipe Massa was fifth. Romain Grosjean took sixth,
while Daniel Riccardo finished his best position of his career with a seventh
in his Toro Rosso. Button was eighth, while Vettel’s decision with his tires
saw him finish a disappointing ninth, while Nico Hulkenberg took tenth for
Sauber.

Hamilton, still glowing from his pole position,
still realized that the race would something very different.

“It
would be great to convert the position in the race tomorrow but it’s going to
be a challenge and we’re realistic about how tough the race will be. The soft tires
don’t last for very long, and with a couple of quick guys starting on the
mediums, it’ll be interesting to see how the race plays out. I’m looking
forward to it and will give it my all.”

Share Button