Hamilton’s 1:45.681 was just 0.007 quicker than Rosberg, but those behind aren’t far away with pole looking like a shoot-out between three teams as Ferrari and Red Bull looked competitive whilst Williams weren’t far behind either.
In the end though it was a Mercedes 1-2, with Daniel Ricciardo securing third ahead of his own team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
Fernando Alonso starts fifth ahead of Felipe Massa whilst Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t improve on his first flying lap thanks to a power unit failure in the final minutes of Q3. He starts seventh ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:46.921 | 1:46.287 | 1:45.681 | 17 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:47.244 | 1:45.825 | 1:45.688 | 19 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:47.488 | 1:46.493 | 1:45.854 | 12 |
| 4 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:47.476 | 1:46.586 | 1:45.902 | 15 |
| 5 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:46.889 | 1:46.328 | 1:45.907 | 16 |
| 6 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:47.615 | 1:46.472 | 1:46.000 | 20 |
| 7 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:46.685 | 1:46.359 | 1:46.170 | 14 |
| 8 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:47.196 | 1:46.622 | 1:46.187 | 18 |
| 9 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:47.976 | 1:46.700 | 1:46.250 | 18 |
| 10 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | STR-Renault | 1:47.656 | 1:46.926 | 1:47.362 | 21 |
| 11 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:47.161 | 1:46.943 | 12 | |
| 12 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Renault | 1:47.407 | 1:46.989 | 14 | |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:47.370 | 1:47.308 | 13 | |
| 14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:47.970 | 1:47.333 | 9 | |
| 15 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:48.143 | 1:47.575 | 13 | |
| 16 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:47.862 | 1:47.812 | 14 | |
| 17 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:48.324 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1:49.063 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 17 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:49.440 | 7 | ||
| 20 | 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1:50.405 | 8 | ||
| 21 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:50.473 | 7 | ||
| 22 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1:52.287 | 5 | ||
| Q1 107% Time | 1:54.152 |
….. After losing over a tenth of a second to a lock up!
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LH is a man on fire….. all that emotion he has, is being channelled into his driving.
….. NR can still win the title…. but, good though he is….. Hammy is in the ‘Super League’……. Can’t wait for tomorrow 🙂
And, did you enjoy the race?
Yes… though it was a shame we didn’t get to see the two Mercs battle it out.
I also liked the excitement over the tyre strategies.
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I know a lot of people aren’t happy with this…. but for me it is another technical skill set that drivers (and teams) need, and it ensures that we don’t know what the final results will be, often until the last lap.
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Long gone are the days when F1 used to be a procession of cars circulating the track.
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My biggest two complaints are with the engine freeze (particularly in the first year of a totally new power-plant….. they should have been free to develop it throughout the season), and the inclusion of Marussia, and Caterham; both of whom seem to be an utter irrelevance.
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3 car teams may solve this, creating more opportunities for drivers like Hulk, Koby & Big john.
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I’d also like to see top ten qualy points added for drivers finishing in the top ten (to avoid pure qualy setups).
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Overall though, a great season so far, with a spectacular two man battle for the WDC, and great battles between the rest of the pack, with nobody knowing in advance what the order will be.
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What is there not to like……. okay maybe the note 🙂
Er…….. meant to say ‘engine note’ 🙂