Engine problems mean Hamilton doesn't set a time; Ricciardo a front row surprise; Ferrari have to settle for third and fourth
Sunday 17 April 2016 07:00, UK
Nico Rosberg took his first pole position of the season in China, where Lewis Hamilton hit unreliability problems and will start from last.
The world champion failed to set a time during Q1 as Mercedes battled ERS problems on his hybrid power unit that left him down on power.
Hamilton was already set to take a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox, but now has a mammoth task on Sunday starting from 22nd.
"You can overtake here, the tyres won't last as well. I'll give it everything I've got," Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
The one silver lining for the Mercedes driver is he has plenty of new tyres available for the race.
Starting from pole, Rosberg will have the advantage of starting on soft compound tyres after gambling on making it into Q3 on the slower tyres during Q2.
"The pressure was on at the beginning of Q3 when Kimi did a good time," Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.
"It is good that I am starting on the softs, I'm not sure what is planned after that, but I think the plan is not to use the supersofts."
He will be joined on the front row by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, whose smile was even wider than normal after a shock result.
"Where on earth that came from? I'm quite shocked actually, to qualify on the front row is an incredible performance," Red Bull boss Christian Horner told Sky Sports F1.
Ferrari, who had looked the team to beat throughout practice, had to settle for the second row of the grid. Kimi Raikkonen will start third and Sebastian Vettel fourth after an action-packed session which more than justified the return to the 2015 qualifying format.
"We saved a set of tyres, I was confident that I could make it on the last lap, but I didn't," Vettel told Sky F1.
"I wasn't happy with the lap, I made a couple of small mistakes here and there that cost me quite a lot of time."
Valtteri Bottas was fifth for Williams, ahead of Daniil Kvyat, Sergio Perez and the Toro Rosso pair of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen.
Nico Hulkenberg did make it into Q3, but his front left wheel came loose and bounced down the track late in Q2, forcing him to stop the car, ruling him out of the top-10 shootout. He was handed a three-place grid penalty for an unsafe release.
That incident caused a late red flag in Q2 and with only just over a minute left on the clock meant those in the drop zone were unable to post another time.
"Arrgh, arrgh," exclaimed a frustrated Fernando Alonso over the radio when told he wouldn't get one final attempt at a spot in Q3.
The Spaniard qualified 12th, one spot above team-mate Jenson Button after McLaren sent both their drivers out on used tyres for their initial runs, before being forced to abort their laps on new supersofts. They will both move up one spot thanks to Hulkenberg's penalty.
"Both McLarens had the potential to be in Q3, we didn't use the new tyres, the full engine power, we were waiting on that final lap and we never started it," Alonso later told Sky Sports F1.
Q1 was delayed by over 20 minutes when Pascal Wehrlein hit the wall on the pit straight after losing control of his Manor.
The German opened his DRS just before hitting a wet patch of track below the media centre bridge. That lack of rear grip combined with a bump on the track sent his Manor spearing into the wall.
The marshals then attempted to dry the track using sweepers, but had little impact on the conditions.
Embarrassingly for Renault, who have senior management present in Shanghai, both cars went out in the first part of qualifying, along with the Haas of Esteban Gutierrez and the Manor of Rio Haryanto.
2016 Chinese GP Qualifying
Q3
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:35.402
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:35.917
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:35.972
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:36.246
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:36.296
6. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:36.399
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:36.865
8. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:36.881
9. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:37.194
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, No time
Q2
11. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:37.347
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:38.826
13. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:39.093
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:39.830
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:40.742
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:42.430
Q1
17. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:38.673
18. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:38.770
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:39.528
20. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:40.264
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, No time
22. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, No time.
Watch the Chinese GP on Sunday - LIVE ONLY on Sky Sports F1. The race starts at 7am, with build-up underway from 5.30am. Or watch without a contract for £6.99 on NOW TV.
