Faced with a spirited challenge at the start of the Formula One season from a resurgent Ferrari, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton yesterday showed that he is still the driver to beat.
Hamilton captured his sixth Chinese Grand Prix pole position, edging Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari by less than 0.2 seconds.
For the second race in a row, Hamilton also did it in record time.
Photo: EPA
His lap of 1 minute, 31.678 seconds broke the 13-year-old circuit mark held by Michael Schumacher by more than half a second. He also posted the fastest-ever lap at the Australian Grand Prix during qualifying last month.
Still, Hamilton does not necessarily think that he is the odds-on favorite for today’s race, given the pace shown by his rivals in the scarlet cars.
“The Ferraris have looked so fast,” Hamilton said. “It’s super exciting for me, because we’re really fighting these guys, having to raise the bar every time we go out.”
Hamilton also started from pole position in Melbourne, but Vettel beat him on race day when Hamilton pitted early and got stuck in traffic and could not catch up.
It was Vettel’s first victory in more than a year and established Ferrari as a true competitor to the long-dominant silver cars. Vettel is now keen to make it two-for-two to start the season.
“Obviously it’s a lot of fun when you fight for poles and wins,” Vettel said. “We didn’t really have much expectations [in Shanghai], because it’s a completely different track, but we know on the other hand that our car’s working well, so just need to keep it up.”
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, qualified in third, just 0.001 of a second behind Vettel.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was knocked out of the first session of qualifying after encountering a power problem. His final flying lap was spoiled when Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi lost control and crashed spectacularly into a wall, littering the track with debris and bringing a premature end to the session.
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