Nico Rosberg achieved his maiden Formula One pole position in an exciting and dramatic qualifying session in Shanghai.
The German put Mercedes at the front of the grid for the first time since Juan Manuel Fangio led the field at Monza in 1955.
Rosberg was a full half a second quicker over second-fastest Lewis Hamilton. But due to the gearbox penalty applied to the McLaren driver, Michael Schumacher is promoted to P2 forming an all-Mercedes front row.
While Rosberg celebrated his first ever pole, it was a disastrous day for reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel. Not only beaten by his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber in qualifying for the third time this season, Vettel will start the Chinese Grand Prix down in eleventh.
Rosberg had led a Mercedes one-two in Q2, and then blitzed his rivals early in Q3 with an unbeatable time of one minute, 35.121 seconds.
So confident was Rosberg that the time would hold for pole, he got out of his car and walked off to the weighing area while the rest of the top ten tried in vain to improve their times.
Hamilton managed to get between the Silver Arrows on lap times, although on the starting grid he will line up in seventh.
His penalty means Kamui Kobayashi is promoted to an amazing third, as the Japanese driver emphasised Sauber’s progress by setting the fourth quickest time.
Thanks to the high level of competition this season, Vettel faced a difficult task for a fourth consecutive Shanghai pole and with the failure to make the top ten shootout for the first time since Brazil 2009 was a major shock.
The double world champion, running a different exhaust specification on the RB8 to Mark Webber, was only three tenths of a second slower than his pacesetting team-mate in Q2.
But that was the difference between first and eleventh in the extraordinarily close session. Vettel had been gradually edged down the top ten and ultimately pushed out by Romain Grosjean’s Lotus.
His Lotus team-mate Kimi Raikkonen will start fourth, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button and Mark Webber in the Red Bull.
Malaysia combatants Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso were together again as they led the way in Q1 after going for softs tyres, and qualified in close company once more in eighth and ninth.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was closer to his team-mate pace, but will start in P12.
The second half of the grid will line up in neat team formation. With the two Williams sharing row seven ahead of the Force Indias, and while Jean-Eric Vergne did not get beyond Q1, he will still start alongside Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.
Meanwhile at the back, Caterham led Marussia and HRT, with all drivers comfortably within the 107 per cent qualifying margin.
Qualifying times from Shanghai:
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m35.121s
2. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m35.691s
3. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m35.784s
4. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1m35.898s
5. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m36.191s
6. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m36.290s
7. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m35.626s*
8. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.524s
9. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m36.622s
10. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault No time
11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m36.031s
12. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m36.255s
13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1m36.283s
14. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m36.289s
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m36.317s
16. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m36.745s
17. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m36.956s
18. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m37.714s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1m38.463s
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m38.677s
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m39.282s
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m39.717s
23. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1m40.411s
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m41.000s
*Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change
107 per cent time: 1m42.931s
Finally Nico Rosberg achieved his first pole position in Formula One. The German described the achievement as “fantastic”. Autosport.com has the story.
Nico Rosberg described taking his first Formula 1 pole position at his 111th attempt as ‘fantastic’.
The 26-year-old German set the fastest time in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix – a 1m35.121s –which proved to be just under half a second faster than his nearest rival’s best in Q3.
It was also Mercedes’ first pole position as a manufacturer team since Juan Manuel Fangio took the top spot for the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.
“It went really well and it’s a very special feeling,” Rosberg said. “Now obviously l am looking forward to starting first and the race!
“The track was was cooling off, the temperatures were coming down, so the rear tyres started working better. We changed setup before the last run and I did a perfect lap.”
Mercedes was always expected to be strong in qualifying for China, where the long straight plays to the advantages of its unique ‘double DRS’ system, and team-mate Michael Schumacher will line up alongside Rosberg on the front row when second-placed Lewis Hamilton’s gearbox-change grid penalty is taken into account.
Rosberg admitted however that he is more concerned about the W03’s race pace given its propensity to burn through tyres in long runs.
“It is clear in the race we have not been as quick as in qualifying, but we are making progress, we will try our best and work tonight and see what we can do with setup electronically and then make the most of it,” he said.
“It is a great feeling, getting a good lap in at the end and it shows as a team we are moving forward. In the race we are not there yet but we are getting there, we won’t make big jumps in a couple of weeks, it will take some time, but we are getting there.
“It’s difficult to know how well we will go tomorrow, so let’s wait and see.”
Rosberg first lap in Q3 was that much faster than the opposition that in the end he only chose to do one flying lap, opting to sit out the final minutes as his rivals tried to better his time, but he said the decision was a sound one.
“We just decided to save another set of tyres,” he added, “it was a good lap and saving a set was good for the race as the points are for the race not qualifying.”
Even though Mercedes are on the front row in the Chinese Grand Prix, team boss Ross Brawn is aware that the race may not be easy. Autosport.com has the details.
Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn said celebrations over the squad’s front row sweep for the Chinese Grand Prix would be tempered by an awareness that it had to deliver better race form on Sunday.
Although Mercedes has taken a big step forward in performance this year, with its innovative ‘double DRS’ system playing a role in its impressive qualifying race, it has fallen back in races after strong Saturday performances, and has only scored one point in 2012.
At Shanghai on Saturday, Nico Rosberg took a dominant pole position with a half-second cushion over the field. Team-mate Michael Schumacher was third fastest, but moves up to second on the grid thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s penalty for a gearbox change.
“It was a fantastic achievement, but in the back of our mind we’ve got to put a race together tomorrow,” Brawn told the BBC.
Brawn said Rosberg deserved huge credit for his performance and the margin of superiority. The German had been outqualified by Schumacher at 2012’s first two races after holding the edge in single-lap pace for most of their time as team-mates so far.
“It was quite an exceptional lap by Nico,” said Brawn. “He hasn’t had a great first couple of races in that respect, and today we saw what he can do. The middle sector he did was just incredible.”
The team boss hinted that both Mercedes could have gone faster still.
“We backed off once we saw that we weren’t really under any threat because Lewis has got a penalty,” Brawn said. “We wanted to try and save a set of tyres.”
As for Lewis Hamilton, the McLaren driver was quite “proud” of Nico Rosberg after taking maiden pole position in China. Autosport.com has the story.
Lewis Hamilton has congratulated long-time rival Nico Rosberg on taking a maiden pole position in Formula 1.
Rosberg and Hamilton have raced against each other for over a decade, dating back to their karting days, and the McLaren driver was delighted to have qualified alongside his old rival despite the gearbox penalty that will prevent them sharing the front row on Sunday.
“Congratulations to Nico,” said Hamilton, who will start seventh. “It’s fantastic and I am proud of him.
“We grew up racing together and we dreamed of racing in F1. We are on the front row together but I have the penalty.”
Rosberg’s Mercedes team-mate, Michael Schumacher, admitted that he was not expecting his team to challenge for pole.
He hailed Rosberg’s lap as “phenomenal”.
“I didn’t think we would fight for pole position and seeing what Nico could do was a big surprise for all of is,” said Schumacher.
“It was a phenomenal laptime and I happy for him taking his first pole. It will also be the first front row of the proper Silvers Arrows.”
Schumacher is wary about whether he and Rosberg will be able to convert their front row starting positions into results, but is hoping to have a straightforward race to see where the F1 W03 really is on race performance.
“It is a question mark if we can keep that position, but we will see what happens tomorrow,” said Schumacher.
“We have a question of high fuel and tyre degradation. Hopefully it will be the first proper normal race and I can get to the end.”
And what about Sebastian Vettel? The reigning world champion has no regrets over sticking with the old exhaust system after qualifying P11 for the Chinese Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the story.
Sebastian Vettel said he has no regrets about his decision to stick with Red Bull’s old exhaust design, despite going out in Q2 for the first time in 43 races.
The world champion decided to use the old exhaust layout for the weekend, while his team-mate Mark Webber opted for the latest-specification unit.
Vettel failed to make it into the top 10 in qualifying for the first time since the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The German said he was happy with how he had performed during qualifying, but he conceded that his times were simply not quick enough.
“It’s always easy to say this and that now, but I was happy with the car yesterday and that’s why I decided to stay as we were,” said Vettel.
“I was happy with the laps I had in qualifying. There were no mistakes, but they weren’t quick enough. It’s as easy as that.
“Yesterday I was happy with the car. We decided to stick with the current settings and I don’t want to blame it on the car. Three times I did exactly the same lap, and three times it wasn’t quick enough to make it into Q3.”
Vettel admitted he was disappointed to be starting from so far back, but he reckons he still has a chance to put on a good performance in? the race.
“Obviously I’m not happy,” he added. “As I said, I was pretty happy with the laps I had in Q2, but they weren’t quick enough. We have to start the race from P11 and see what we can do tomorrow. Surely it makes it a bit harder, but not impossible to do a good race.
“I was pretty happy with the car today, but it was pretty close. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take the final step. There’s a lot of work to do, but there’s a very long race tomorrow, which gives us lot of chances.”
Team boss Christian Horner downplayed the difference between one exhaust layout and the other, saying the gap between Vettel and Webber was not necessarily down to it.
“Not necessarily. The characteristic are slightly different but it’s hopefully suiting both drivers’ different driving style,” Horner told Sky TV. “If you look at the first and second sectors there is absolutely nothing between them, so the difference seems to be in the third sector.”
Heikki Kovalainen expects Pastor Maldonado to be penalised for blocking during the opening part of Chinese Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
The Finn qualified 19th for Caterham, but believes he was delayed by the Williams driver, who he said weaved in front of him early in the session.
“He [Maldonado] is under investigation,” Kovalainen said. “I was the good, he was the bad. He was getting ready for first timed lap, I believe, and I was on my first fast lap.
“He was weaving on the back straight and I was getting very close to him, so obviously he had no intention of letting me by. By the last corner I was right up his bum.
“It didn’t cost us much time because I was able to do another lap later on, but in any case he made a mistake and I think he’ll probably have to pay for it.”
Kovalainen’s Caterham team-mate Vitaly Petrov will line up alongside him on the grid in 20th spot, while Maldonado will start 13th.
Source: Autosport.com
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi is not dreaming of the Chinese Grand Prix even though the team excels again. Autosport.com has the story.
Kamui Kobayashi insists that he is not dreaming of fighting for victory in the Chinese Grand Prix, and says his goal remains to score as many points as possible.
Coming off the back of his Sauber team-mate Sergio Perez’s near-win in Malaysia, Kobayashi qualified in a strong fourth position at Shanghai, but will start from third due to a grid penalty for Lewis Hamilton – picked up following a gearbox change.
The Japanese driver admitted he was delighted with the result, but insisted he is staying realistic for the race.
“I am very happy, the team did a great job,” said Kobayashi. “For quite a while we have kept saying we need to improve our qualifying performance, and I think this was a clear improvement today.
“Apparently I will be starting from third position tomorrow because Lewis Hamilton had to change his gearbox. This grid position obviously means a lot of chances. However, I am not a dreamer and the target remains the same: score as many points as you can.
“We have a strong car, normally it is also good on tyres and I am looking forward to the race full of confidence.”
Perez will also start the race in the top ten, having secured eighth position, and the Mexican said he was hoping for a better result.
“It is obviously a good qualifying result for our team,” he said. “Personally I must admit I even hoped for more than P8. After the previous runs had been very promising, on the final lap in Q3, when I was on a fresh set of soft tyres, I suddenly had understeer.
“I don’t know where this came from. In any case it will be a tough race tomorrow and I will give it my best.”
Malaysian Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso says title thoughts are far away as Ferrari again struggled in qualifying. Autosport.com has the story.
Fernando Alonso is under no illusions that Ferrari will have to improve its car drastically in order to stay in contention for the championship.
The Spanish driver is leading the standings after his win in Malaysia, but he could only qualify in ninth position ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, nearly 1.5 seconds off the pace.
The Ferrari driver concedes he is not thinking of the championship as his team’s form is far from what he was hoping for in order to fight for victories.
Alonso admitted his car has ‘big’ problems with the aerodynamics, but he reckons that gives Ferrari hope that it can make big gains once it solves them.
“At the moment we all stay focused in the next race,” said Alonso. “I think the championship is a target for Ferrari every year because of the history and the way the team is racing, with the passion to win. But obviously we are not stupid.
“We know we are far behind and we need to work. One second is a big gap to recover, but the car has some big problems in terms of aerodynamics which give us the optimism inside the team that we can recover, maybe not one second, but a lot of time if we put a couple of things that are not working in the right place.
“This is the first priority. Once we are happy with the car, we’ll see what’s the gap. At the moment it’s too big because it doesn’t work.”
Alonso, who fended off Sauber’s Sergio Perez to win in Malaysia, said he was not surprised by the pace of the Swiss squad after qualifying behind both the Mexican and his team-mate Kamui Kobayashi today.
“They were one of the quickest in winter testing. They were one of the quickest in Australia and maybe they deserved the win in Malaysia.”
The Spaniard did beat world champion Sebastian Vettel in Saturday’s session, and he said the German’s position is the result of Red Bull not getting everything perfect now it does not have a big edge over its rivals.
“I think Red Bull is not a second in front of everybody, so the qualifyings and the races are more difficult,” Alonso said. “You need to be perfect in everything. If some things don’t go in the right way, the times are so close that it puts you out of Q3. And maybe this was one of those occasions.”
Michael Schumacher says he has finally got his hands on a car that allows him to enjoy the Shanghai circuit, after securing a spot on the front row for the Chinese Grand Prix.
The seven-time champion will start alongside Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, and reckons the performance had changed his opinion of Shanghai.
“If you don’t have a balanced car it [Shanghai] is a nightmare and probably this Silver Arrow is the first car that handles very good here,” he said.
“So I have started to like the track a little bit more this year compared to the previous years.”
Schumacher said that it was fairly obvious he was enjoying F1 much more now, having delivered his best qualifying performance since Japan 2006.
“It is natural when you are in difficulties you know what it needs to get out of that,” he said.
“It needs patience and focus. That is what we all had and now we take the fruits from all the work and effort we put in. Naturally you are more happy at the front end, where we are right now.”
Source: Autosport.com
With Kamui Kobayashi starting in third position, McLaren’s Jenson Button believes the Sauber driver will be a factor in the Chinese Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the story.
Jenson Button has warned that Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi will be a factor in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Kobayashi starts the race from third on the grid and his practice pace suggests that he can maintain that for into the race.
While Button, who starts fifth, expects Mercedes to drop back despite Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher starting on the front row, he is less confident about being able to get ahead of the Sauber.
“It’s not easy starting from where we are, but most of the cars in front are ones that we are quicker than in the race,” said Button. “The one that is unusual is Kobayashi.
“Their [Sauber’s] pace seems very good on long runs. I think he’s going to be pretty tricky tomorrow.”
Button is hopefully of being able to fight his way into contention for victory and predicted that the early stages of the race will be dramatic because of the unusual qualifying order.
He suspects that he and team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Kobayashi and the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen could have a pace advantage over the Mercedes once the race is underway.
“It’s a completely different grid to what we have seen so far, so it will be an exciting first few laps,” said Button. “We have Kamui just in front so that’s going to be a lot of fun.
“You’d probably say that the Mercedes race pace is not as good as those behind them.”
Pastor Maldonado and Pedro de la Rosa have been given reprimands for impeding other cars during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Williams driver Maldonado was under investigation for having blocked Caterham’s Heikki Kovalainen, who said after qualifying that he was expecting the Venezuelan to be penalised.
Maldonado, however, was only reprimanded by the stewards.
“He was weaving on the back straight and I was getting very close to him, so obviously he had no intention of letting me by. By the last corner I was right up his bum,” said Kovalainen.
“It didn’t cost us much time because I was able to do another lap later on, but in any case he made a mistake and I think he’ll probably have to pay for it.”
De la Rosa was reprimanded for having impeded Maldonado’s team-mate Bruno Senna during Q1.
Source: Autosport.com
Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen was left feeling disappointed after qualifying. Autosport.com has the details.
Kimi Raikkonen admitted he was disappointed with the pace of his car during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Although the Finn will start from a season-best fourth position, he said he was expecting his Lotus to be quicker after the promise of the first two races.
Raikkonen finished over seven tenths of a second off the time set by Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg, and although he said he was pleased with his starting position, he expected to be closer to the front.
“It was not too bad, but I am a bit disappointed with the gap to the front and I think we were stronger in the last race than we were here,” said Raikkonen.
“The grid position is okay but when you look at the times, I’m disappointed with the pace of the car today. The rest have improved and we have not.”
When asked if he could have extracted something more from his car, he said: “No, the car couldn’t go much faster, we tried but we couldn’t go much faster.”
The Finn reckons Lotus’s chances of a strong race will depend on the temperature rising for tomorrow’s event after a cool day on Saturday.
“Usually our car is good in the race but it would need to be hotter and that should help us and hurt the other teams so we have to see how it goes,” he added.