Category: Motor Racing

Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton won the Canadian Grand Prix – his fifth at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – while his championship rival Nico Rosberg lost ground and finished in fifth spot.

The Mercedes driver finished five seconds clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who had a shot at victory following a fantastic start, but failed to make a two-stop strategy work in comparison to the one-stop for Hamilton.

It means after seven of the 21 races this year, Hamilton is now just nine points from Rosberg, who spun near the end trying to pass Max Verstappen for fourth, with the defending champion taking 34 points out of the latter’s early advantage over the last two Grands Prix.

Valtteri Bottas also managed just a one-stop strategy to claim third in his Williams, scoring both his and the team’s first podium since Mexico last season.

Hamilton made another poor start from pole, while from third on the grid Vettel blasted by the Silver Arrows pair to take the lead.

Behind Vettel, Hamilton held the inside line into Turn 1 where he and Rosberg bumped wheels as the latter attempted to pass around the outside.

The slight collision, however, was enough to force Rosberg to go off the circuit, dropping him to ninth place and facing a battle to fight through the field in the cold conditions.

Rosberg lost another place before the end of lap one to fall to tenth, leaving Vettel and Hamilton to fight for the win and a battle of strategies between Ferrari and Mercedes.

Ferrari caused a surprise when Vettel pitted at the end of lap 11 and under a virtual safety car period caused by Jenson Button’s engine blowing on his McLaren, the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix winner pulling his car onto a grass verge.

In switching from the ultra-soft tyre to the super-soft, it was apparent Vettel would have to pit again with the soft compound being the mandatory set for the race designated by Pirelli.

At that stage Vettel dropped to fourth behind the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, although come the end of lap 18 he had cleared both to move up to second behind Hamilton.

Six laps later Hamilton made his only pit stop, taking on the soft tyres, leaving him with 46 to the end, with the prediction from Pirelli being it could run for fifty laps.

It was another 13 before Ferrari pitted Vettel again to take on the soft tyres, retaining his second place and emerging 7.8 seconds behind Hamilton.

Vettel closed the gap to 4.3 seconds behind Hamilton after 55 laps, but he locked up into the final chicane on lap 56 and again on lap 61 to drop him to 6.7 seconds adrift, effectively ending his bid for victory.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen managed to fend off Rosberg to finish fourth, whose attempt at a pass into the final chicane on lap 69 ended with him spinning off track, although he kept his engine running.

Rosberg had had a shot at third earlier in the race, but he suffered a slow puncture to his right-rear tyre with 19 laps remaining that dropped him to seventh at the time.

Kimi Raikkonen was sixth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, the only two other drivers to finish on the same lap as Hamilton.

Completing the points-scoring positions were Force India duo Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez in eighth and tenth, with  Carlos Sainz in between. The Toro Rosso racer started P20 after taking a gearbox penalty before the start.

Also on the list of retirees alongside Button were Renault’s Jolyon Palmer on lap 18 with a water leak and Felipe Massa’s Williams after 37 laps with engine issues.

So a brilliant result for Lewis Hamilton. Fifth victory at the Canadian Grand Prix and now nine points behind his championship rival.

Ferrari’s strategy did not work out for Sebastian Vettel who gave it all in the race.

A new event comes up next at Baku. It’s going to be a fascinating Grand Prix especially in terms of the championship.

Canadian Grand Prix, race results:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    70    1h31m05.296s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    70    5.011s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    70    46.422s
4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    70    53.020s
5    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    70    1m02.093s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    70    1m03.017s
7    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    70    1m03.634s
8    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    69    1 Lap
9    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    69    1 Lap
10    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    69    1 Lap
11    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    69    1 Lap
12    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    69    1 Lap
13    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    68    2 Laps
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    68    2 Laps
15    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    68    2 Laps
16    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    68    2 Laps
17    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    68    2 Laps
18    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    68    2 Laps
19    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    68    2 Laps
–    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    35    Retirement
–    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    16    Retirement
–    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    9    Engine

Drivers’ standings:

1    Nico Rosberg    116
2    Lewis Hamilton    107
3    Sebastian Vettel    78
4    Daniel Ricciardo    72
5    Kimi Raikkonen    69
6    Max Verstappen    50
7    Valtteri Bottas    44
8    Felipe Massa    37
9    Sergio Perez    24
10    Daniil Kvyat    22
11    Romain Grosjean    22
12    Fernando Alonso    18
13    Nico Hulkenberg    18
14    Carlos Sainz    18
15    Kevin Magnussen    6
16    Jenson Button    5
17    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
18    Esteban Gutierrez    0
19    Jolyon Palmer    0
20    Marcus Ericsson    0
21    Pascal Wehrlein    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    223
2    Ferrari    147
3    Red Bull-Renault    130
4    Williams-Mercedes    81
5    Force India-Mercedes    42
6    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    32
7    McLaren-Honda    24
8    Haas-Ferrari    22
9    Renault    6
10    Sauber-Ferrari    0
11    Manor-Mercedes    0

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton achieved his fifth Canadian Grand Prix pole position at the Circuit Gilles Villeueve.

The Mercedes driver edged out his championship rival Nico Rosberg by a tiny margin of 0.062 seconds to earn his fifty-third career pole in Formula 1.

Hamilton held on to top spot despite failing to improve on his second run in Q3 at the Montreal circuit.

Rosberg messed up his second run at the first corner so also failed to improve, while Sebastian Vettel cursed losing some traction at the hairpin on his final flying lap.

Vettel put on a brave fight for Ferrari but was unable to match the sheer speed from the Silver Arrows. Third on the grid is the end result. Just 0.116 seconds adrift.

The Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen qualified fourth and fifth respectively. A solid effort from the charging bulls, ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were seventh and eighth for Williams, with the former less than a tenth away from beating The Iceman.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India was almost two tenths further back from Massa in ninth, while Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda rounded out the top ten.

Alonso made Q3 for the third race in succession by bumping Sergio Perez out of the top ten in the closing moments of Q2, so the Force India driver ended up in P11.

Jenson Button was fractionally quicker than his McLaren team-mate Alonso in the first two sectors of his final lap in Q2, but he dropped time in the final sector and wound up P12 – blaming a lack of a tow on the run from the hairpin.

Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso was just 0.020 secondss slower in P13, ahead of Haas pairing Esteban Gutierrez and Romain Grosjean, who were separated by 0.232 seconds.

The Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr ended up slowest in Q2 after he bashed against the Wall of Champions at the end of his first proper flying lap, causing the session to be red flagged while the track marshals remove his broken car.

Jolyon Palmer had earlier come within 0.015 secondss of stealing the final Q2 spot from Grosjean, but had to settle for P17 in his Renault.

He was 0.140 seconds ahead of the impressive Pascal Wehrlein, whose Manor was P15 after his first run in Q1, but slipped back when others improved.

Wehrlein’s hopes of improving himself were scuppered by team-mate Rio Haryanto clouting the wall at the exit of the first chicane, which effectively ended the closing minutes of Q1.

Wehrlein at least remained ahead of both Saubers, with Marcus Ericsson over a second clear of team-mate Felipe Nasr, who had to rely on a slow first run in Q1 thanks to the timing of Haryanto’s crash.

The second Renault of Kevin Magnussen failed to participate in qualifying following his heavy crash in final practice, so he will start last on the grid with the stewards’ permission.

Canadian Grand Prix, qualifying result:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m12.812s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m12.874s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m12.990s
4    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m13.166s
5    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m13.414s
6    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m13.579s
7    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m13.670s
8    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m13.769s
9    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m13.952s
10    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m14.338s
11    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m14.317s
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m14.437s
13    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m14.571s
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m14.803s
15    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m21.956s
16    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m14.457s
17    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m15.459s
18    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m15.599s
19    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m16.663s
20    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    1m17.052s
21    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m15.635s
22    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    No time

Lewis Hamilton has finally won a race this season in a thrilling Monaco Grand Prix, while a pit stop heartbreak for Daniel Ricciardo cost him the top result.

The defending champion finished the 78-lap rain-hit race seven seconds clear from Red Bull’s Ricciardo with Sergio Perez taking the final podium spot for Force India.

Overnight rain continued throughout the morning in Monaco with conditions sufficiently treacherous that the race was started under the safety car for the first time in its history.

After seven laps, the safety car was called in and Ricciardo pulled away in the lead, ahead of Nico Rosberg and Hamilton.

It became clear Hamilton was the faster of the two Mercedes, with Rosberg struggling with brake temperatures, so the team instructed the German to let Hamilton past.

Hamilton set off in chase of Ricciardo and although the track was drying out, he chose to stay out on full wets when Ricciardo pitted for intermediates and therefore the lead.

Ricciardo caught Hamilton quickly and retook the lead when the Mercedes pitted for the ultra-soft at the end of lap 31 of 78.

The honey badger pitted next time around, but a miscommunication meant the tyres were not ready when he reached the pitbox.

Eventually, the team fitted super-softs and got him out, but as he exited the pits Hamilton swept around the outside to retake the lead.

That slow pit stop ultimately cost Red Bull Racing and Daniel Ricciardo the Monaco Grand Prix victory. As overtaking around the tight, twisty circuit is nearly impossible.

Ricciardo closed on Hamilton as they went through the tunnel with the Mercedes cutting the chicane and then blocking his rival as he came under attack on the outside on the run to Tabac.

Ricciardo waved his hand in frustration but the race stewards decided to take no further action after investigating the incident.

Hamilton then absorbed the huge pressure from Ricciardo to keep the lead and secure his 44th career victory and first since he clinched his third world title in last year’s United States Grand Prix.

Perez jumped to third with well-timed tyre changes and then resisted heavy pressure from Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari to give Force India its first podium of the season.

Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen retired early on when he crashed at the Loews hairpin, blocking Romain Grosjean as he tried to rejoin and then pulling off at the exit of the tunnel with his front wing lodged underneath the car.

Fernando Alonso finished a brilliant fifth place with Nico Hulkenberg stealing sixth off a low-key Rosberg on the final lap.

That means Hamilton has cut the gap to title rival Rosberg in the championship to 24 points.

Carlos Sainz Jr, Jenson Button and Felipe Massa completed the top ten.

Sauber asked Felipe Nasr to let his team-mate Marcus Ericsson by but Nasy questioned the decision.

Ericsson then tried a move at Rascasse and the two cars collided, resulting in both retiring soon afterwards.

As for Max Verstappen. This was a hero to zero moment for the Red Bull driver.

He fought his way up into the points after starting from the pit lane but crashed at Massenet – his third crash of the weekend.

It was a tough race for Renault with Jolyon Palmer crashing when he lost grip on the pits straight kink as the race began and Kevin Magnussen hitting the barrier at Mirabeau.

Magnussen had previously collided with Daniil Kvyat at Rascasse, with Kvyat later retiring, having been a lap down after suffering a problem with his steering wheel at the start.

So a great result for Lewis Hamilton. His 44th career victory in such a thrilling race. Red Bull let Daniel Ricciardo down with a slow pit-stop but kudos to Sergio Perez in scoring a podium for Force India.

Monaco Grand Prix, race results after 78 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h59m29.133s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    7.252s
3    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    13.825s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    15.846s
5    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m25.076s
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m32.999s
7    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m33.290s
8    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
9    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
10    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
11    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1 Lap
12    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
13    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    2 Laps
14    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
15    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    Retirement
–    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    Retirement
–    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    Retirement
–    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    Retirement

Drivers’ standings:

1    Nico Rosberg    106
2    Lewis Hamilton    82
3    Daniel Ricciardo    66
4    Kimi Raikkonen    61
5    Sebastian Vettel    60
6    Max Verstappen    38
7    Felipe Massa    37
8    Valtteri Bottas    29
9    Sergio Perez    23
10    Daniil Kvyat    22
11    Romain Grosjean    22
12    Fernando Alonso    18
13    Carlos Sainz    16
14    Nico Hulkenberg    14
15    Kevin Magnussen    6
16    Jenson Button    5
17    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
18    Esteban Gutierrez    0
19    Jolyon Palmer    0
20    Marcus Ericsson    0
21    Pascal Wehrlein    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    188
2    Ferrari    121
3    Red Bull-Renault    112
4    Williams-Mercedes    66
5    Force India-Mercedes    37
6    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    30
7    McLaren-Honda    24
8    Haas-Ferrari    22
9    Renault    6
10    Sauber-Ferrari    0
11    Manor-Mercedes    0

Next race: Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal. June 10-12.

Daniel Ricciardo recorded his maiden pole position in Formula 1 with an impressive lap around the tight, twisty street circuit in Monaco.

The Honey Badger’s lap of one minute, 13. 622 seconds was just spectacular and highlight the speed plus grip of the RB12 chassis.

This was Red Bull Racing’s first pole since the last V8-engined season of Formula 1 in 2013.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg will start second on the grid, just 0.169 seconds slower than Ricciardo. While Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered a fuel pressure issue that hampered his Q3.

The reigning title winner recovered from this delay to come through into third. Ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel – who was quickest in Q1 – Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India and Kimi Raikkonen.

The Iceman qualified in sixth place but will drop a further five places on the grid following a gearbox change in the Ferrari.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz recorded the seventh fastest time, a solid effort and only 0.017 seconds slower than Raikkonen.

Sergio Perez, Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso in the McLaren-Honda completes the top ten at Monaco.

Valtteri Bottas missed out on a place in Q3 by 0.166 seconds as Williams elected to send its drivers out for a single run each in Q2.

Team-mate Felipe Massa was only 0.112 seconds slower but that was enough to leave him P14, behind Esteban Gutierrez and Jenson Button.

Gutierrez’s Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean was a strong eighth fastest in Q1, but failed to find any time in Q2, ending up over a tenth slower than his earlier best and down in P15.

Kevin Magnussen’s Renault completed the top 16, nearly half a second further back, but he is under investigation for jumping a red light at the end of the pitlane in Q1, so may get a penalty.

Marcus Ericsson missed out on a place in Q2 by just 0.046 seconds after losing a late battle with Magnussen’s Renault in Q1.

Team Banana’s Jolyon Palmer, which suffered rear wing damage from an off in final practice, was nearly three tenths further back in P18.

Rio Haryanto got the better of Manor team-mate Pascal Wehrlein by 0.147 seconds to qualify P19.

Wehrlein failed to improve by 0.030 seconds on his second Q1 run so wound up P20.

As for the Spanish Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen. This was a hero to zero moment. The Red Bull driver will start from the penultimate row after breaking his right-front suspension by clipping the inside barrier at the Swimming Pool chicane, then crashing heavily into the barriers.

He at least set a time before doing so. Felipe Nasr’s Sauber failed to even complete a flying lap after its Ferrari engine blew up on his out-lap.

Monaco Grand Prix, qualifying standings:

1    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m13.622s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m13.791s
3    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m13.942s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m14.552s
5    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m14.726s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m14.749s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m14.902s
8    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m15.273s
9    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m15.363s
10    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m15.273s
11    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m14.732s*
12    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m15.293s
13    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m15.352s
14    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m15.385s
15    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m15.571s
16    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m16.058s
17    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m16.299s
18    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m16.586s
19    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    1m17.295s
20    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m17.452s
21    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m22.467s
22    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    No time

*Five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox

Max Verstappen made Formula 1 history by taking victory at the Circuit de Catalunya on his first appearance as a Red Bull Racing driver.

On his debut drive for Milton Keynes-based team after recently swapping seats with Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso graduate Verstappen became the youngest driver to win a race at the age of 18 years and 227 days, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record by more than two years.

Verstappen led for the final 32 of the 66 laps as he completed a two-stop strategy to perfection, finishing just 0.6 seconds ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari, with Vettel third, a further 4.9 seconds down.

While such an achievement was unforgettable, the Spanish Grand Prix will be go down in motor sport history as to what unfolded between Hamilton and Rosberg.

From second on the grid Rosberg enjoyed a slightly better start than Hamilton on pole and passed his team-mate around the outside at Turn 1.

Out of Turn 3 Hamilton managed to gain a superb launch, moving into Rosberg’s slipstream and across to the right as he aimed for an overtake.

Rosberg aggressively covered off what was an ambitious move by Hamilton, who had managed to get his front wing aligned with his team-mate’s right-rear tyre.

Trying to avoid a collision Hamilton took to the grass, but immediately went into a slide and careered into Rosberg, sending both into the gravel at Turn 4.

Hamilton immediately covered his visor with both hands, and after a period of reflection sat in his car, later flung his steering wheel out in a fit of anger.

The incident immediately brought out the safety car, with Daniel Ricciardo leading new team-mate Verstappen, followed by the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr, who had started eighth, and the Ferraris of Vettel and Raikkonen.

After Vettel and Raikkonen eventually passed Sainz, a tense Red Bull versus Ferrari battle began.

They matched tactics at their first pit-stops for mediums, before both teams then split strategies.

Leader Ricciardo returned to soft rubber after his second stop – immediately indicating a three-stop plan – and was covered off by third-placed Vettel a lap later.

Verstappen, who had closed to within seven tenths of Ricciardo, and Raikkonen remained out, not pitting until laps 34 and 35 respectively and taking on medium tyres to commit to a two-stop strategy with a long stint to the finish.

After just eight laps on the softs, Ferrari made a tactical move by bringing in Vettel again for his third pit-stop, and moving back to the mediums.

Leader Ricciardo, following a poor few laps, took on his set of mediums after 43 laps, emerging some distance behind third-placed Vettel, with Verstappen holding on to a one-second cushion to Raikkonen at the front.

Despite constant pressure from Raikkonen, Verstappen stayed ahead to the chequered flag for a remarkable win.

As the lead quartet bunched up, Ricciardo attempted a pass on Vettel for third into Turn 1 with seven laps left, only to slightly overcook it and allow the four-time champion back through.

Vettel was forced to take evasive action to avoid hitting Ricciardo, and yet again an expletive-laden radio rant from the Ferrari driver.

Ricciardo kept pushing, but on the penultimate lap his right-rear tyre gave way, forcing him into the pits for a late change, and with such a significant gap to fifth-placed Valtteri Bottas in his Williams, he still claimed fourth.

Behind Bottas came Sainz, followed by the Force India of Sergio Perez, Felipe Massa’s Williams – charging from P18 on the grid – Jenson Button for McLaren, with Kvyat taking the final point with tenth.

Nico Hulkenberg was forced to retire after 21 laps following a small fire and with smoke coming from the back of his Force India, with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso following suit 25 laps later, bemoaning “no power”.

So a dramatic Spanish Grand Prix. The Mercedes self-destruct will be the major talking point as both Rosberg and Hamilton not given an inch. Yet, the feel good story from Barcelona is Verstappen winning his first race.

The youngest winner in the sport. On his debut with Red Bull Racing. Fantastic achievement. Here’s to many more for the Mad Max in Formula 1.

Spanish Grand Prix, race results after 66 laps:

1    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1h41m40.017s
2    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    0.616s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    5.581s
4    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    43.950s
5    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    45.271s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m01.395s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m19.538s
8    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m20.707s
9    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
10    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
11    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
12    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
13    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1 Lap
14    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1 Lap
15    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
16    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1 Lap
17    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    1 Lap
–    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    Retirement
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    Collision
–    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    Collision

Drivers’ standings:

1    Nico Rosberg    100
2    Kimi Raikkonen    61
3    Lewis Hamilton    57
4    Sebastian Vettel    48
5    Daniel Ricciardo    48
6    Max Verstappen    38
7    Felipe Massa    36
8    Valtteri Bottas    29
9    Daniil Kvyat    22
10    Romain Grosjean    22
11    Carlos Sainz    12
12    Fernando Alonso    8
13    Sergio Perez    8
14    Kevin Magnussen    6
15    Nico Hulkenberg    6
16    Jenson Button    3
17    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
18    Jolyon Palmer    0
19    Esteban Gutierrez    0
20    Marcus Ericsson    0
21    Pascal Wehrlein    0
22    Felipe Nasr    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    157
2    Ferrari    109
3    Red Bull-Renault    94
4    Williams-Mercedes    65
5    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    26
6    Haas-Ferrari    22
7    Force India-Mercedes    14
8    McLaren-Honda    12
9    Renault    6
10    Sauber-Ferrari    0
11    Manor-Mercedes    0

Next race: Monaco Grand Prix, May 26-29. Monte Carlo.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton responding to his critics with pole position at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Mercedes driver beat his team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg to P1. While Ferrari slipped behind in competitive form compared to Red Bull during qualifying.

Both Silver Arrows drivers made errors on their first flying lap in Q3, with Hamilton locking his brakes heavily at Turn 10.

But the defending champion recovered to grab pole position on his second run by 0.280 seconds from Rosberg.

Daniel Ricciardo qualified third quickest for Red Bull Racing, six tenths behind Rosberg’s Mercedes and just over two tenths clear of new team-mate Max Verstappen, who had split the Mercedes after the first runs in Q3.

Ferrari suffered a disappointing session, after a promising form in practice.

Kimi Raikkonen was only fifth quickest, just 0.026 seconds slower than Verstappen, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel qualified 0.221 seconds further back in sixth.

The Williams of Valtteri Bottas beat Carlos Sainz Jr’s Toro Rosso to seventh place by just over a tenth, with the Force India of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso’s McLaren-Honda rounding out the top ten.

This was McLaren’s first top ten appearance and to have both Spanish drivers at the mid-range of the pack will give the home supporters a cheer.

Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India split the McLaren-Hondas, failing to make the pole shootout by just 0.011 seconds.

Jenson Button was P12, just under a tenth clear of Toro Rosso returnee Daniil Kvyat.

Romain Grosjean sat inside the top ten after the first runs in Q2, but fell back to P14 after disappointingly failing to improve on his second run.

He was split from Haas team-mate Esteban Gutierrez by another impressive performance from Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, who qualified P15 in his under-developed car.

The Williams of Felipe Massa fell unexpectedly in Q1, after he aborted his second run. A timing issue was the cause of the early elimination which affected his qualifying.

He ended up P19, just behind the Renault of Jolyon Palmer, who briefly looked set to make it through to Q2 before a late improvement by Button’s McLaren.

Sauber and Manor brought up the rear of the grid. As Marcus Ericsson trailed Felipe Nasr after their first runs, but improved substantially on his second to finish 0.377 seconds clear of his Sauber team-mate.

Pascal Wehrlein also turned tables on Manor team-mate Rio Haryanto during their second runs, with a lap that put him 0.194 seconds clear and less than two tenths shy of Nasr’s Sauber.

Spanish Grand Prix, qualifying times:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m22.000s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m22.280s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m22.680s
4    Max Verstappen    Red Bull-Renault    1m23.087s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m23.113s
6    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m23.334s
7    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m23.522s
8    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m23.643s
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m23.782s
10    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m23.981s
11    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m24.203s
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m24.348s
13    Daniil Kvyat    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m24.445s
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m24.480s
15    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m24.625s
16    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m24.778s
17    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m24.903s
18    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m24.941s
19    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m25.202s
20    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m25.579s
21    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m25.745s
22    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    1m25.939s

Championship leader Nico Rosberg dominated the Russian Grand Prix was ease to record his seventh straight victory in Formula 1.

His Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton was able to recovery from tenth to finish second. Despite a brief mid-race water-pressure scare.

Kimi Raikkonen took third for the Scuderia, which was the team’s 700th podium result in the sport.

As for his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel, he was out on the first lap no thanks to a double bash from ‘Russian torpedo’ Daniil Kvyat.

Vettel was attempting to pass Daniel Ricciardo for fifth up the inside into the Turn 2 on the opening lap, with Sergio Perez making it three wide on the outside line.

Vettel appeared to have made the move, only for Kvyat to tap the rear of the Ferrari and pitch it sideways and into Ricciardo, who in turn hit Perez and gave the Force India a right-rear puncture.

The Ferrari was then hit in the rear again by Kvyat in the fast Turn 3, pitching Vettel into the wall and out of the race and prompting a few F-bombs over the team radio.

Kvyat, who like team-mate Ricciardo had to pit for a new front wing, was given a ten-second stop and go penalty for causing the two collisions.

 

The safety car was deployed to clear up the wreckage of the Ferrari and the consequences of a separate incident in which Esteban Gutierrez hit Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India.

While Rosberg had the lead, Hamilton was running fifth, which became fourth position when he passed Felipe Massa’s Williams at Turn 2 at the restart.

Hamilton then dived up the inside of third-placed Kimi Raikkonen into Turn 4 on lap seven after The Iceman had a poor run out of the previous corner while chasing Valtteri Bottas.

Bottas was able to keep Hamilton behind when he pitted at the end of lap 16 of 53, with Hamilton emerging just behind after stopping a lap later.

But two laps later, the reigning champion was able to take second up the inside into Turn 2 even though Bottas also had the use of the DRS on the run to the corner thanks to the yet-to-stop Fernando Alonso being ahead.

Once in clear air, Hamilton did close on Rosberg, reducing the gap to 7.5 seconds by two-thirds distance prior to being warned of the water pressure issue that led to him easing off while it was checked.

The gap quickly extended to just over 13 seconds, with Rosberg eventually crossing the line 25 seconds clear after setting the fastest lap of the race on his penultimate time round the Sochi circuit.

Bottas lost out on the final podium position to Raikkonen, who ran four laps later in his first stint and emerged from his sole pitstop just in front of the Williams driver.

Massa had a lonely race to fifth, with the Williams team bringing him in for a late and risk-free stop at the end of lap 46 to switch to super-softs, presumably in case a safety car closed up the field again and he was able to attack.

He had a comfortable advantage over Fernando Alonso, who took his first points finish since last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

The double world champion capitalised on Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen retiring from sixth place with an engine problem.

Kevin Magnussen delivered a strong race to take his and Renault’s first points of the season in seventh, prevailing in a tight five-car battle for the minor points positions.

He led home Romain Grosjean, who took the new Haas team’s third points finish in four races.

Perez recovered to ninth, with Jenson Button passing Carlos Sainz Jr for the final point late on. Scoring a double points finish for McLaren.

Ricciardo could only recover to P12 ahead of Jolyon Palmer after initially switching onto medium rubber following the first-lap problems and then making a second stop to bolt on softs.

Team-mate Kvyat was P15, behind Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson, after serving his penalty.

So four wins out of four for Nico Rosberg. The Mercedes driver is looking the clear favourite for the championship. Can Hamilton fight back? We shall see.

Russian Grand Prix, race results after 53 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1h32m41.997s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    25.022s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    31.998s
4    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    50.217s
5    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m14.427s
6    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
7    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1 Lap
8    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1 Lap
10    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1 Lap
11    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    1 Lap
12    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1 Lap
13    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1 Lap
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
15    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull/TAG Heuer    1 Lap
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1 Lap
17    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1 Lap
18    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    2 Laps
–    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    Collision
–    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    Collision
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    Collision

Drivers’ standings:

1    Nico Rosberg    100
2    Lewis Hamilton    57
3    Kimi Raikkonen    43
4    Daniel Ricciardo    36
5    Sebastian Vettel    33
6    Felipe Massa    32
7    Romain Grosjean    22
8    Daniil Kvyat    21
9    Valtteri Bottas    19
10    Max Verstappen    13
11    Fernando Alonso    8
12    Kevin Magnussen    6
13    Nico Hulkenberg    6
14    Carlos Sainz    4
15    Sergio Perez    2
16    Jenson Button    1
17    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
18    Jolyon Palmer    0
19    Marcus Ericsson    0
20    Pascal Wehrlein    0
21    Felipe Nasr    0
22    Esteban Gutierrez    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    157
2    Ferrari    76
3    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    57
4    Williams-Mercedes    51
5    Haas-Ferrari    22
6    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    17
7    McLaren-Honda    10
8    Force India-Mercedes    8
9    Renault    6
10    Sauber-Ferrari    0
11    Manor-Mercedes    0

Next race: Spanish Grand Prix, Circuit de Catalunya. May 13-15.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg achieved his twenty-four career pole position in Formula 1 with ease at Sochi, while a power unit failure affected his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in taking part in the shoot out for P1.

Hamilton had a slight edge over his title rival in the first part of qualifying, but was trailing by nearly half a second in Q2 when he suffered a recurrence of the MGU-H failure that ruined his efforts at Shanghai.

That left Hamilton tenth and without a lap time in Q3, while Rosberg enjoyed a clear path to the front, beating Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari to the top spot by more than seven tenths of a second.

To further Hamilton’s misery, he faces a trip to the race stewards to explain why he failed to follow the proper procedure for rejoining from the Turn 2 run-off area after a Q1 error.

Rosberg was able to lap the Sochi circuit in one minute, 35 seconds mark in Q2 and Q3 comfortably. The Mercedes driver was on for a better lap at the end of Q3 before locking up his brakes and running off track at the end of the long back straight.

Vettel chipped his way into the low one minute, 36 seconds, but the team and the new, updated combustion power unit had no answer for the Silver Arrows’ impressive speed.

Vettel will start seventh following a penalty for changing his gearbox after Friday practice.

That means Williams driver Valtteri Bottas will enjoy his first front row start since the 2014 German Grand Prix, after outpacing fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen by 0.127 seconds.

Felipe Massa was fifth fastest, almost half a second adrift of his Williams team-mate, while Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull rounded out the top six.

Sergio Perez impressively split Ricciardo from Red Bull team-mate Daniil Kvyat by going seventh quickest.

Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso lapped 0.124 seconds slower than Kvyat to end up ninth.

A late improvement from Kvyat in the final moments of Q2 pushed the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr to P11.

Sainz was unable to improve on his last run but remained half a tenth clear of Jenson Button in the better of the McLaren-Hondas.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was P13, reckoning a lap that was nearly half a second adrift of Perez in Q2 to be “as good as it gets”.

As for Fernando Alonso, the double world champion was 0.036 seconds slower in P14, and yet ahead of the Haas pairing of Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez, who were separated by less than a tenth as Grosjean continued to complain about the unpredictability of his car.

The Renaults of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer were more than two tenths away from making the Q2 cut, but separated by less than a tenth in P17 and P18.

Sauber’s Felipe Nasr lay above the cut-off after his first run in Q1, but he went off at the start of his second run and failed to improve his time.

Nasr wound up just 0.009 seconds shy of Palmer’s time but well clear of Pascal Wehrlein in the best of the Manor-Mercedes.

Marcus Ericsson seemed set to avoid a back-of-the-grid start after a last-gasp improvement, but Rio Haryanto hit back with a late show of his own to return the struggling Ericsson to the bottom of the grid.

Qualifying results, Sochi:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m35.417s
2    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m36.536s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m36.663s
4    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m37.016s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    1m37.125s
6    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m37.212s
7    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m36.123s*
8    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    1m37.459s
9    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m37.583s
10    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes   No time
11    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m37.652s
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m37.701s
13    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m37.771s
14    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m37.807s
15    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m38.055s
16    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m38.115s
17    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m38.914s
18    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m39.009s
19    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m39.018s
20    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    1m39.399s
21    Rio Haryanto    Manor/Mercedes    1m39.463s
22    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m39.519s

*Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change

Nico Rosberg continued his winning form this season with his third victory for Mercedes at the Chinese Grand Prix.

This was Rosberg’s sixth consecutive victory, beating his team-mate Lewis Hamilton since last year’s Mexican Grand Prix.

This latest achievement means he opens up a 36-point lead over Hamilton.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished in second position, despite a clash with his Ferrari’s team-mate caused by Daniil Kvyat, who was able to complete the podium for Red Bull Racing.

As for Hamilton, starting from the back of the grid after a MGU-H failure during qualifying and subsequent power unit change post session, the reigning champion could do no better than seventh position.

But that’s only half the story of what was a chaotic race at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo took the lead into Turn 1 after beating polesitter Rosberg off the line from his own front-row position.

Behind the lead duo, Kimi Raikkonen locked up marginally at the first corner, forcing Ferrari team-mate Vettel to make a slightly evasive move.

But with Kvyat charging up the inside, Vettel manoeuvred his way back into his team-mate, sending The Iceman off the track and into the pits for repairs.

Vettel was angry over the team’s radio, blaming Kvyat as “a madman” who had made a “suicidal” move and arguing with him after the race.

Hamilton had made up five position into Turn 1, but after running over a piece of Raikkonen’s front wing, the champion was then hit by Felipe Nasr and ended up with his own front wing lodged under his Mercedes.

That caused damage to his Silver Arrows, resulting in a loss of downforce and hampering Hamilton’s recovery.

Leader Ricciardo’s hopes were dashed on lap three when, powering down the back straight and with Rosberg behind, he sustained a puncture to his left-rear tyre caused by debris on the track.

Shredded rubber on that part of the circuit prompted a safety car, and brought Raikkonen and Hamilton back into contention at the rear of the pack.

During the five laps the safety car was on track, Hamilton made two stops for tyres, taking on super-softs for one lap, and then back to another set of softs, the compound on which he had started, giving him free choice of Pirelli tyres for the rest of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Once the safety car was released, behind leader Rosberg a number of key players were out of position, with Vettel P15, Ricciardo P17, Raikkonen P19 and Hamilton P21.

What followed was an easy Sunday drive for Rosberg, while those behind attempted to work out the best strategy and tyres for any given part of the race, with positions changing constantly.

Kvyat ran second to Rosberg for most of the race, with Vettel using a brief hard-charging stint on super-softs to make progress through the traffic and catch him again.

They swapped positions immediately after the final pit stops, where Ferrari put Vettel on softs and he was able to quickly attack on the medium-shod Red Bull.

At one stage prior to his fourth pit stop after 21 laps Hamilton was running third as others pitted, but two further stops followed – for a total of five – dropping him down the order on both occasions.

Hamilton came back through to push Felipe Massa’s Williams for fourth, but was eventually passed by a flying Ricciardo and Raikkonen.

Ricciardo ultimately claimed fourth for the third successive race, with Raikkonen fifth, followed by Massa, Hamilton, the Toro Rosso pair of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr, with Valtteri Bottas completing the top ten.

Despite the numerous incidents, all 22 cars completed the race, with Jolyon Palmer for Renault the last of those to see the chequered flag.

So a dramatic Chinese Grand Prix. Mayhem on the opening lap with three champions receiving damage. The top drivers fighting back through the field and yet the championship leader extends the points lead with a great win.

Chinese Grand Prix, race results after 56 laps:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team    1h38m53.891s
2    Sebastian Vettel    Scuderia Ferrari    37.776s
3    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull Racing    45.936s
4    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing    52.688s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Scuderia Ferrari    1m05.872s
6    Felipe Massa    Williams Martini Racing    1m15.511s
7    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team    1m18.230s
8    Max Verstappen    Scuderia Toro Rosso    1m19.268s
9    Carlos Sainz    Scuderia Toro Rosso    1m24.127s
10    Valtteri Bottas    Williams Martini Racing    1m26.192s
11    Sergio Perez    Sahara Force India F1 Team    1m34.283s
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren Honda    1m37.253s
13    Jenson Button    McLaren Honda    1m41.990s
14    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas F1 Team    1 Lap
15    Nico Hulkenberg    Sahara Force India F1 Team    1 Lap
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber F1 Team    1 Lap
17    Kevin Magnussen    Renault Sport F1 Team    1 Lap
18    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor Racing MRT    1 Lap
19    Romain Grosjean    Haas F1 Team    1 Lap
20    Felipe Nasr    Sauber F1 Team    1 Lap
21    Rio Haryanto    Manor Racing MRT    1 Lap
22    Jolyon Palmer    Renault Sport F1 Team    1 Lap

Drivers’ standings:

1    Nico Rosberg    75
2    Lewis Hamilton    39
3    Daniel Ricciardo    36
4    Sebastian Vettel    33
5    Kimi Raikkonen    28
6    Felipe Massa    22
7    Daniil Kvyat    21
8    Romain Grosjean    18
9    Max Verstappen    13
10    Valtteri Bottas    7
11    Nico Hulkenberg    6
12    Carlos Sainz    4
13    Stoffel Vandoorne    1
14    Kevin Magnussen    0
15    Sergio Perez    0
16    Jolyon Palmer    0
17    Marcus Ericsson    0
18    Fernando Alonso    0
19    Jenson Button    0
20    Pascal Wehrlein    0
21    Felipe Nasr    0
22    Esteban Gutierrez    0
23    Rio Haryanto    0

Constructors’ standings:

1    Mercedes    114
2    Ferrari    61
3    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    57
4    Williams-Mercedes    29
5    Haas-Ferrari    18
6    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    17
7    Force India-Mercedes    6
8    McLaren-Honda    1
9    Renault    0
10    Sauber-Ferrari    0
11    Manor-Mercedes    0

Next race: Russian Grand Prix, Sochi. April 29-May 1.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg recorded his twenty-third career pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix while his title rival Lewis Hamilton suffered a technical issue and will start last.

A five-place grid penalty for the reigning world champion Hamilton meant he was never going to start on pole, but his Mercedes failed to even figure in the battle thanks to an energy recovery system (ERS) problem that meant he was unable to escape Q1.

Friday practice pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen was on provisional pole after the first runs in Q3, but he made a mistake at the penultimate corner and couldn’t improve.

Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel only made a single run in Q3, but the end result was just fourth position.

Ricciardo therefore grabbed this opportunity with a superb final effort in his Red Bull, 0.055 seconds faster than Raikkonen’s Ferrari but over half a second down on Rosberg, who got through Q2 on soft tyres and can consequently start the race on a different strategy to the other front running cars.

So second position for Daniel Ricciardo is an impressive achievement. The potential for Red Bull and the honey badger looks good.

The Williams of Valtteri Bottas was fifth quickest, slightly slower than Vettel, while Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top six.

Sergio Perez was seventh fastest for Force India, ahead of the Toro Rosso pair of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen.

Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten, but Force India will likely be penalised for an unsafe release after his car shed its left-front wheel in the closing minutes of Q2.

That prevented any drivers from completing second runs in this segment, and meant Felipe Massa’s Williams missed out on the top ten by just 0.014 seconds to Hulkenberg.

The McLarens of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean’s Haas, and the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr completed the top 16 in that order.

Alonso groaned repeatedly with frustration when told over McLaren’s radio that he would have to abort his second run, while team-mate Button’s response was “Are you kidding me?! One day we’ll show our true pace”.

Kevin Magnussen’s Renault and the Haas-Ferrari of Esteban Gutierrez both fell at the first part of qualifying, thanks to late improvements from the Saubers.

Magnussen, who lost most of Friday’s dry running to a rear suspension problem, almost did enough with his final flying lap, but Nasr bumped him out by less than a hundredth of a second.

Gutierrez ended up P18, paying the price for Haas completing its second Q1 runs too early as the track improved.

Renault’s Jolyon Palmer was nearly eight tenths slower in P19, but well ahead of Rio Haryanto’s Manor-Mercedes.

Hamilton’s ERS problems meant he failed to set a time in qualifying, but he will start last on account of a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

Bahrain qualifying star Pascal Wehrlein also failed to set a time, after the DTM champion lost control of his slick-shod car over a wet patch on the start/finish straight and glanced the barriers in the early stages of Q1.

That accident caused a lengthy delay to the session as marshals attempted to dry out this part of the circuit with a track sweeper.

So a Silver Arrows bookend. Championship challenger on pole position while defending title winner at the back. The honey badger can fight for glory. Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix is going to be exciting.

Qualifying standings, Chinese Grand Prix:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m35.402s
2    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    1m35.917s
3    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m35.972s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m36.246s
5    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m36.296s
6    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-TAG Heuer    1m36.399s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m36.865s
8    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m36.881s
9    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m37.194s
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    No time
11    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m37.347s
12    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m38.826s
13    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m39.093s
14    Romain Grosjean    Haas-Ferrari    1m39.830s
15    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m40.742s
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m42.430s
17    Kevin Magnussen    Renault    1m38.673s
18    Esteban Gutierrez    Haas-Ferrari    1m38.770s
19    Jolyon Palmer    Renault    1m39.528s
20    Rio Haryanto    Manor-Mercedes    1m40.264s
21    Pascal Wehrlein    Manor-Mercedes    No time
22    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    No time