Malaysia – Qualifying: Hamilton dominates a feverish Rosberg
Lewis Hamilton took pole position with aplomb ahead of Nico Rosberg, who was not at his best in Q3 and made a number of minor errors. Behind them, the Red Bulls reversed the trend, overtaking the Ferraris.
The qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix is not expected to bring any big surprises as the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been dominant during the three practice sessions.
It is under a sky heavy with clouds that the session is likely to start. Could the rain play a role in the battle for pole position? Note that Fernando Alonso is accumulating penalties today after having changed several elements of his Honda power unit on his McLaren.
Q1 begins and it’s the two Manor cars of Pascal Wehrlein and Esteban Ocon that take to the track first. The Mercedes drivers follow suit. It seems that the majority of drivers want to set a fast lap early in the session to guard against a potential rain shower.
For the first timed lap, Hamilton sets the fastest time by 16 milliseconds ahead of Rosberg. Meanwhile, Jenson Button spins in the traffic while many drivers make mistakes in the 3rd sector.
BUT spins coming out of turn 14 #Quali #MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #F1 pic.twitter.com/CAvD1B2sbH
— Formula 1 (@F1) 1 octobre 2016
Not all drivers made the same tire choice. The Force India team decided to equip Soft tires and are in 3rd and 5th positions, Nico Hülkenberg ahead of Sergio Perez.
Ferrari and Red Bull, on the other hand, have fitted Hard tires and find themselves a bit further down the standings, under threat from Toro Rosso and Renault, who are in relatively good form.
Romain Grosjean drinks the chalice to the dregs as his right mirror detaches and hits his helmet, without injuring him however. With 5 minutes remaining in Q1, Esteban Gutierrez, the two Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr, the two Manors, and Alonso are in the elimination zone.
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferraris return to the track on Soft tires to ensure a passage into Q2. The Finn moves up to 3rd position, just 1 thousandth ahead of the German. Button enters the Top 10, and both Saubers fail to reach Q2.
The drivers eliminated in Q1 are: Ericsson, Nasr, Palmer, Ocon, Wehrlein, and Alonso
The rain will probably not disrupt Q2, which gets underway with both Mercedes cars on track. Despite a few small mistakes in his lap, Hamilton sets the fastest time, half a second ahead of Rosberg. The Red Bulls are in ambush, Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
The Ferraris have lost performance since the practice sessions and cannot get ahead of the Red Bulls. Kimi Räikkönen is ahead of his teammate by a tenth. The two Williams, quiet until now, are placed in the Top 10 alongside the two Force Indias.
.@ValtteriBottas slots into P7 with his opening lap of the session. #Q2 #MalaysiaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/hBpv9Vz2Ma
— WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) 1 octobre 2016
All the drivers, except Felipe Massa, return to the track for the final minutes. Valtteri Bottas, who made a mistake in the last corner, is the big loser of this final run. On the contrary, Button makes it to Q3 and expresses his joy over the radio.
The drivers eliminated in Q2 are: Bottas, Grosjean, Gutierrez, Magnussen, Kvyat, and Sainz
The battle for pole position finally begins. The drivers take to the track. Jenson Button has an offset strategy and will start a bit later for a single fast lap.
Sergio Pérez is the first to set a benchmark with a time of 1:35.173. Quickly beaten by Sebastian Vettel and then Max Verstappen. Kimi Räikkönen positions himself behind the Dutchman before being beaten by Daniel Ricciardo.
The two Mercedes finally arrive, but Nico Rosberg missed in the second sector. He is only 5th! Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest time at 1:32.850, maintaining his usual half-second lead since the start of the weekend.
But the rain is making its appearance with 5 minutes left in this Q3! The drivers will need to get back out quickly to try to change things before the bad weather intensifies. For now, only a few scattered drops have been reported by Verstappen to his team.
The drivers set off for one last fast lap, and all eyes are on Nico Rosberg, who cannot afford any mistakes. But despite a small error in the last corner, the German climbs to 2nd place, 0.4 seconds behind Hamilton. The two Red Bulls and the two Ferraris follow without managing to trouble the Mercedes.
With this new pole position, Lewis Hamilton marks the 100th front row start of his career. A symbolic number, but it places him only 16 short of the record held by Michael Schumacher.
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALI) Stunning effort from @LewisHamilton #MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #F1 pic.twitter.com/j8dbHHy9gv
— Formula 1 (@F1) 1 octobre 2016
