China – Qualifications: Vettel on the Edge!
Sebastian Vettel repeated his performance in Bahrain by narrowly beating Kimi Räikkönen on his last lap of Q3. Valtteri Bottas is third, more than half a second behind. Fourth, Lewis Hamilton didn't even finish his final attempt.
It was after an intense battle that Sebastian Vettel claimed his second pole of 2018, the 52nd of his career. Ahead in the first and second sectors, Kimi Räikkönen thought he had done the hardest part, setting a very good time under the checkered flag. But his teammate emerged, achieving a better third sector, to achieve the final time of 1:31.095, with a gap of 87 thousandths of a second between the two Italian cars! Scuderia Ferrari thus delivers a great collective performance, with a new front row.
The German managed to heat his tires optimally on a still tricky track (16 degrees on the track, far from the 35 degrees observed in Bahrain), washed overnight by the rain. But it was indeed on a dry tarmac that the third qualifying session of the season took place.
A quick time on softs during Q2, the Mercedes drivers surrendered in the final phase. Lewis Hamilton simply returned to the pits during his last flying lap! The British driver remained helmeted for long minutes after the session, carrying with him the disappointment of a modest fourth-fastest time at the end of Q3.
On the strategy side, the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers will start with the soft tire for tomorrow’s race: all having set a time in Q2 on this compound. But in the meantime, it is today’s performance that is striking: the Mercedes were pushed back by over half a second! Quite a twist for a team that had locked down the pole in Shanghai since 2012!
Hülkenberg, the best of the rest
Fifth and sixth, the Red Bulls, on the other hand, watched the final battle as spectators. Max Verstappen leads a Daniel Ricciardo who made a remarkable comeback. The Australian only made a single attempt at the end of Q1! The driver owes a debt of gratitude to his mechanics, who managed to repair his RB14’s engine in time, which was on fire during FP3. Behind them, Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez will lead the midfield battle, ahead of the other Renault of Carlos Sainz, in ninth place.
Sixth in qualifying in Melbourne, Romain Grosjean (10th) returned to Q3, after a single flying lap in Q2. The Haas driver is this time the best representative of the French team, as Esteban Ocon (12th) could not reach the last part of the session, missing out by a mere tenth of a second.
13th and 14th, both McLarens remained stuck in the middle of the pack, despite a noticeable slipstreaming technique between the two cars. Stoffel Vandoorne did his best to help Fernando Alonso in Q2, which was not enough.
#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 | Qualifs
Romain Grosjean in Q3 👏🇫🇷
👉 The eliminated:
11 MAG
12 OCO 🇫🇷
13 ALO
14 VAN
15 HAR#F1 pic.twitter.com/29l05zjrAq— Secteur F1 🏎️ (@Secteur_F1) April 14, 2018
Bahrain star only 17th!
Finally, the last part of the standings includes a little surprise, with Pierre Gasly being eliminated in Q1. Sixth in Q3 at Sakhir, the Norman this time failed by 88 thousandths to pass to Q2. As for Charles Leclerc, he beat his teammate Marcus Ericsson, despite a spin in the last corner five minutes before the end, beyond the curb. But both Saubers will indeed occupy the last row of the grid, barring any possible penalties.
Here is the complete ranking of this qualifying session:
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (Q3)
Vettel pips Räikkönen right at the end to take pole, with a new lap record 💪#F1 #Quali #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/wAYMA8l2fB
— Formula 1 (@F1) 14 avril 2018
