Hamilton takes vital pole position in Shanghai

Lewis Hamilton China

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton moved himself a step closer to winning this season’s world championship by taking his sixth pole position in sensational style at the Chinese Grand Prix. His main championship rival and team-mate Fernando Alonso will start the all-important race in Shanghai in fourth.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had dominated the race weekend with the quickest time in all the sessions until Q3. The Finn will start the Chinese Grand Prix alongside Lewis Hamilton in second position ahead of his Scuderia team-mate Felipe Massa.

It seems that Raikkonen was on course to take pole position, as the ‘Iceman’ was the fastest driver around the Shanghai International Circuit. It looked unlikely for Hamilton to challenge the Finn for the top spot but the 22-year-old Brit relishes the opportunity with a sublime and perfect lap that astounded the Formula One fans and paddock alike. His time of one minute, 35.908 seconds was a tenth quicker than Kimi but a full two-thirds of a second faster than Fernando!

Poor old Fernando Alonso. The two-time world champion now faces a difficult race no thanks to his low fourth grid position. The Spaniard definitely needs a miracle in order to retain his championship title, but judging by his team-mate’s speed and determination, Hamilton could become the youngest Formula One world champion in the history of the sport on Sunday.

To win the world championship, Lewis Hamilton has to finish the race in front of his McLaren team-mate in any of the top five race positions. He has to score at least two points to take the drivers’ title, no matter if Ferrari takes the race victory. For Kimi Raikkonen, he has to go for the win itself (nothing else will do!) and hope that Lewis finishes outside the top eight. As for Felipe Massa, the Brazilian has to win both this race in China and the finale in Brazil, with none of the three drivers scoring any points… A tall order for Massa.

Behind the usual four drivers in the two top teams came David Coulthard. It was a nice surprise to see the Scot in fifth – his best qualifying performance this season – as Nick Heidfeld usually occupies this grid position. His Red Bull Racing team-mate Mark Webber could only manage seventh, just a half a second behind.

Splitting between the Red Bull pair was Ralf Schumacher. The Toyota driver continued his strong practice form by taking sixth position, seven places ahead of his team-mate Jarno Trulli, who got knocked out in Q2. The German will be starting his penultimate race for the team and will be looking to score some points to end his disappointing season with a positive note.

Shuffle down from their customary third-row grid slots came the BMW-Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica – who were eighth and ninth respectively. Why a lack of pace? Maybe the BMWs are running a heavy fuel load for the race? It seem more likely that the team encounter a technical problem when setting up the cars in Friday’s opening practice sessions, hence they failure to make an impact in qualifying…

And completing the top ten is Jenson Button in the Honda. The Brit will be determined to score some points for the team after a strong performance in qualifying. He easily out-qualified his team-mate Rubens Barrichello, who struggled in P16.

So will fate be in store for Lewis Carl Hamilton on Sunday? Can the British star achieve his dream by winning the FIA Formula One World Championship this year? Only 56 demanding laps around the 5.451-kilometre Shanghai International Circuit can provide the answers. And with the news that a major storm is closing in on race day, it could be an exciting and dramatic Chinese Grand Prix.

Chinese Grand Prix starting grid

1. HAMILTON McLaren 1:35.908
2. RAIKKONEN Ferrari 1:36.044
3. MASSA Ferrari 1:36.221
4. ALONSO McLaren 1:36.576
5. COULTHARD Red Bull 1:37.619
6. SCHUMACHER Toyota 1:38.013
7. WEBBER Red Bull 1:38.153
8. HEIDFELD BMW 1:38.455
9. KUBICA BMW 1:38.472
10. BUTTON Honda 1:39.285
11. LIUZZI Toro Rosso 1:36.862
12. TRULLI Toyota 1:36.959
13. KOVALAINEN Renault 1:36.991
14. DAVIDSON Super Aguri 1:37.247
15. ROSBERG Williams 1:37.483
16. BARRICHELLO Honda 1:37.251
17. VETTEL Toro Rosso 1:36.891*
18. FISICHELLA Renault 1:37.290
19. WURZ Williams 1:37.456
20. SATO Super Aguri 1:38.218
21. SUTIL Spyker 1:38.668
22. YAMAMOTO Spyker 1:39.336

* Relegated five places for impeding another driver