The Mercedes British driver has set an exemplary lap in the Chinese circuit and has taken the pole followed by Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso in a session with a great variety of strategies.
All “favorites” have qualified with soft tyres except Vettel, who has not completed any lap and is 9th. That means he can choose the tyre compound he wants to use in the race tomorrow.
The Mercedes have dominated all the GP together with Ferrari. This is Lewis Hamilton’s first pole outside McLaren, and Kimi Raikkonen has quietly slipped into second place closely followed by Fernando Alonso and Ferrari.
Mark Webber was the surprise when he had to leave the classification by a judgment fuel pump staying out of Q3.
Alonso will start with these drivers behind: Nico Rosberg, Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, Ricciardo, Button, Vettel and Hulkenberg.