Rosberg takes pole for Chinese GP as Ferrari chokes

Rosberg waves to the crowd. His competitors have no chance unless he breaks

Nico Rosberg claimed pole for the Chinese Grand Prix while Ferrari fizzled and Red Bull dazzled.

The biggest surprises weren't that Ferrari would choke again, it was that Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo squeezed Ferrari off the front row and Lewis Hamilton ended up last when his Mercedes had an ERS problem and he never made it out of Q1 and he failed to set a time in qualifying.

Hamilton has vowed to "give it everything" from the back of the grid.

"I noticed the issue as soon as I went out," said Hamilton.

"It's unfortunate, but these things are sent to try us and the best thing that I can do is to try and learn from it.

"I'm sure the guys are just as gutted as I am but we win and we lose together, so it's really a case of trying to figure out the issue and make sure that it doesn't happen again to either of our cars."

Raikkonen said afterward he missed an opportunity to claim his first pole position since 2008 at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Raikkonen held provisional top spot after the first runs in Q3, but lost time on both of his laps by running wide at the Turn 14 hairpin.

Raikkonen ended up third as Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo improved.

"Even on the previous run, at the same corner, I ran really deep, too deep," said Raikkonen in the post-qualifying press conference.

"In the last one I was quite a bit up on that lap, but just ran wide at the hairpin and lost a lot of time. It's a shame. I think we had a chance to be on the top today, but that's how it goes.

"We'll try to make the best of it in the race tomorrow."

Vettel completed just one run to save a set of tires for the race.

"I was confident that I could make it in the last lap but I didn't. I wasn't happy with the lap; there were a couple of mistakes which cost me a lot of time," Vettel conceded.

Ricciardo took his Red Bull around the Shanghai circuit 0.055 seconds faster than Raikkonen's Ferrari to grab the other front row spot.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]The Williams of Valtteri Bottas was fifth fastest, fractionally slower than Vettel, while the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top six.

Sergio Perez was seventh fastest for Force India, ahead of the Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen.

Rookie Pascal Wehrlein also failed to set a time, after the Mercedes driver lost control of his car over a wet patch on the start/finish straight and glanced the barriers in the early stages of Q1.

That accident caused a lengthy delay to the session as marshals attempted to dry out this part of the circuit with a track sweeper.

QUOTES

Mercedes GP

Nico Rosberg (1st, 1:35.402): "It's great to have my first pole of the year. It's always best to be able to start your race from the front and I'm very happy to have that opportunity again. Of course, it's not good that Lewis' car broke down and a shame that we couldn't battle for pole. We definitely need to investigate this as a team but, in any case, I'm sure he will fight his way through the field tomorrow. I made a few mistakes on my first effort in Q3 but my final lap was pretty good. Saying that, Kimi said he made a mistake on his last lap, so with that in consideration I don't believe the gap is as big as it seemed on the timesheet today. On Friday the Ferraris were on the same level as us, so we must be prepared for a strong challenge from the red cars. In the race we could see some surprises. There will be a lot of different strategies, so there's a long way to go yet. But I'm feeling good in the car and looking forward to a battle."

Lewis Hamilton (22nd, No Time): "Of course, it's disappointing not to get out there today. It was going to be a tough weekend anyway with the grid penalty. But these things are sent to try us. No-one wants it easy – at least I know I don't. We might be in the mud right now – but we'll dig our way out. We've got a great car and the team are doing a great job. There are areas we can improve but it's still early in the season and I know we'll get there. It's important that nobody lets their head drop. The best thing we can do is learn from it and move on. I'm sure the guys are just as gutted as I am – but what will be, will be. We win and lose together, so we'll work hard to figure out what happened and try to make sure it doesn't happen again. The positive news is that you can overtake here and the car is quick, so hopefully we can get it fixed for tomorrow and have a good race. I've been in this position before. I came from the back of the grid to the podium in Hungary two years ago, so anything is possible. The tires don't last as well here, so it's perhaps not as simple as it was in that race. But, of course, I'll give it everything I've got to try to get back up as far as I can. We'll at least get into the points and then I'll see what I can do from there. It's never over until it's over…"

Paddy Lowe: "A very eventful qualifying session. We erred on the side of caution with an exploratory first lap on the intermediate tire. But, as it turned out, the track was almost entirely dry from the outset – with the exception of two patches along the start / finish straight. During that initial out lap, a problem unfortunately occurred on Lewis' car which we later identified as a failure of the MGU-H. It's a shame for Lewis and we apologize to him for setting his weekend back. With one car remaining, we used the SuperSoft to get Nico through an unpredictable Q1 session and then ran the Soft for his first run in Q2. The logic here was to then have the Soft as a hoped-for race tire in the event he could pull out a good enough lap to make it into Q3. He did that in impressive style, which stands him in good stead for tomorrow. In the Q3 shootout, Nico made a few errors on his first run but put together a fantastic lap on his second, taking a well-deserved pole. It will be an interesting race tomorrow, with Nico on a different compound to the cars around him and Lewis starting from the back. We still remain hopeful of getting both cars on to the podium, so that's the target."

Toto Wolff, Technical Director: "It was a really bittersweet day for us. Nico did a monster lap in Q3 – he saved it all for his final run and really did a fantastic job to put the car on pole. But I'm sorry for Lewis. He had an uphill battle with his gearbox penalty and that became a mountain to climb after he wasn't able to do a timed lap during qualifying. It was interesting to see that the old qualifying format actually delivered a pretty mixed-up grid today: Daniel Ricciardo will be starting from the front row and hopefully he can make his car pretty wide, because we definitely didn't see the full pace from the Ferrari drivers in Q3. There will be a mix of tire strategies at the front, with Nico starting on the Soft compound, those around him on SuperSoft, and Lewis charging from the back. There will be plenty to keep an eye on tomorrow afternoon. The first key point will be the start and we have seen already this season that the new rules are making things much more variable from race to race. There will be lots of opportunities to do something different on strategy, so I think we should expect an action-packed afternoon."

Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen (3rd, 1:35.972): "It's more of a disappointment than anything else: today we had the chance of getting a better result. I don't know if pole position could have been possible, but for sure we could have easily been second fastest. In the second last corner I ran wide and lost a lot of time. The position could have been much worse after that mistake, but we still have third place, which is not such a bad starting point for the race. It's hard to predict what will happen tomorrow, it will depend on so many factors, the weather and the different tactics from the teams. In the race things are different: we'll try to do our maximum, be the fastest and see where it brings."

Sebastian Vettel (4th, 1:36.246): "I don't think I deserved to be in the top three today. We saved tires, so we start tomorrow on Supersofts. I thought I could make it in the last lap, but my only run wasn't special overall. I asked too much from my tires already at the beginning and then I did a couple of small mistakes here and there, which cost me a lot of lap time. So in the end my run was not so good, but this is how it is and we can't change it now. All in all, I think it has been a good weekend for us so far, and I think tomorrow it can be even better. Race strategies are different from one team to another, which is interesting. Maybe we can have already a shoot at the start, the one we had in Australia was very good so perhaps we can repeat it. Our target is to go forward from where we are…"

Williams-Mercedes

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Valtteri Bottas (5th, 1:36.296): "It was a good qualifying for me, and as a team I think fifth was the maximum position. It felt great to do the lap on my second run in Q3, it was clearly my best lap of the weekend, so that was a good feeling. It's always nice to finish qualifying knowing you've made the most out of it and as a team I think we are in a good position for tomorrow."

Felipe Massa (11th, 1:37.347): "That's not the position I wanted to have. I was a little bit unlucky with the red flag, but tomorrow in the race you never know. We have to try and do the best we can. I hope choosing the right tires will have a positive effect, we will see tomorrow, but I'm not really happy with my position."

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: "If we start with the positives, and I think there were plenty of them, it was a really great lap from Valtteri. He dragged the most out of the car and I'm very happy with that, as was he when he crossed the line. So that's absolutely fantastic. We've actually moved up a bit, in respect to the frontrunners, as we've made up a bit of time through some good car changes here. They're starting to pay dividends and help us learn more about the car. On the other hand, Felipe was desperately unlucky but we have a free tire choice starting from 11th tomorrow."

Red Bull-Tag Heuer

Daniel Ricciardo (2nd, 1:35.917): "Compared to last year we've certainly got a bit more from the power unit. We've seen the trend in the first couple of races and the deficit hasn't been as big as last year on the straights but I didn't expect to be standing here unless it was a wet qualifying. To be front row in the dry is pretty cool. A few people joked saying it's the haircut so maybe that's what it is: aerodynamic. The positive is that Niko's on the Soft and we're obviously starting on the Super Soft, so the start should be interesting. Hopefully we'll battle the Ferrari's for the podium. New or old qualifying system, we seem to be competitive so that's nice."

Daniil Kvyat (6th, 1:36.399): "I'm quite happy with today's qualifying, P6 is my best qualifying so far this season and I think we have found our rhythm. I think what cost us a little bit of time is I did my best lap on scrubbed set of Options, so I think there is a little more time to be found there. Daniel did a good lap to qualify P2, it's a good result for the team. It should be an interesting race tomorrow, hopefully we can fight for a podium, but we will see what the race brings."

Christian Horner, Sporting Director: "An absolutely blistering performance by Daniel, none of us could've dreamt of a front row start in the dry at this circuit, so to be lining up on the front row, alongside Rosberg, is probably one of Daniel's best ever qualifying performances. Dany did a solid job to start on the third row of the grid, another tenth and he would've been ahead of the Williams. It was a good team performance today and hopefully we can turn that into a decent race result tomorrow."

Force India-Mercedes

Sergio Perez (7th, 1:36.865):

Nico Hulkenberg (10th, No Time):

Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer:

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal:

Renault

Kevin Magnussen (17th, 1:38.673): "It's been a tricky weekend so far here in China; this afternoon was the first time I'd driven the car round the circuit in the dry. I think that I did a decent first qualifying lap and I was able to improve a little bit on my second run. We were so close to being in Q2 today and that is frustrating as I think that we should have been there in under more normal circumstances but this is where we are at the moment. We know that things will only get better and we are aiming to improve step by step. I hope that we can have a good race tomorrow with a solid pace and fight in the midfield. Let's see, I'll be going for it."

Jolyon Palmer (19th, 1:39.528): "The car felt ok on the first run but it was still a bit damp and I was quite cautious. The second run was a struggle, with a real lack of grip. I didn't have such problems yesterday or this morning so we need to try and understand where the loss of performance is coming from between myself and the team. For tomorrow, normally the race pace is a bit better than our qualifying speed but we're still starting near the back and that makes things challenging."

Alan Permane, Chief Race Engineer: "It was a frustrating qualifying session for the team. The result doesn't reflect where we want to be – we want to be quicker and further up the grid. We know that improvements will come but it will take time and we need to keep working hard. It was particularly frustrating for Kevin today because of the lack of running he did yesterday, then FP3 was wet this morning. His first dry laps were in qualifying this afternoon. When Jolyon did his qualifying lap, he had a good first sector and was running well until halfway through the second sector when he then felt that the balance of the car wasn't there. This meant he didn't set a time good enough to make it through to Q2 unfortunately. We have been very close to scoring points in the last couple of races with good strategies and racing better than we qualified so of course our aim will be to get our cars as far as we can and get into the points. Certainly for Kevin who hadn't driven in the dry. It was a real disadvantage for him. Jolyon drove quite a bit in the dry yesterday so it was a matter of preparing the car in case qualifying was going to be wet."

Toro Rosso-Ferrari

Carlos Sainz (8th, 1:36.881): "I'm happy with my qualifying today as I'd say we couldn't have got much more out of the car. It's true that I lost a bit of time in the last sector, but to start from P8 tomorrow is not a bad result and we will try and go forward in the race. All in all, I'm also satisfied to have finally put a good qualifying session together from start to end this year, as during the previous two in Australia and Bahrain it's something that I hadn't been able to do yet. I think that tomorrow's race is going to be very interesting strategy wise and I hope to fight for good points."

Max Verstappen (9th, 1:37.194): "I think we've qualified in quite a good position for tomorrow, and to get into Q3 is always good. Of course, you always hope for more, but today it didn't really all come together unfortunately. The conditions out there were quite tricky: the car felt a bit different compared to yesterday and the track was a bit more slippery. However, we are in the top 10 and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's race."

James Key, Technical Director: "A very eventful day. Today's qualifying was an exciting session, with a lot going on. I think we come away happy to have both cars through to top ten relatively easily but a little bit frustrated that we didn't really pull it together with the final runs in Q3. Both cars lost quite a bit of time in the third sector during their final run, which means that we are 8th and 9th when I think we could've been a little bit higher than that. We clearly need to look into this and understand what happened, but it's history now and our immediate priority is to move on and concentrate on preparation for the race. There are several strategies that need to be considered given the combination of tires available so there may be some different approaches tomorrow. It's also a bit difficult to predict because conditions look like they will be pretty warm so we will need to consider how this may affect the tires and what implications there are for our plans"

Sauber-Ferrari

Marcus Ericsson (15th, 1:40.742): "I am glad we are back with the qualifying format from last year. With both cars in Q2 that was a step in the right direction. This is something we should be pleased about. In Q1 especially this was a very good effort from me making it to P13. For the race tomorrow we should have some good chances and be fighting for one or two points, because the long runs on Friday were quite promising."

Felipe Nasr (16th, 1:42.430): "First of all, I was happy we went back to the old qualifying format, which gave us another opportunity to run an extra set of new tires. I feel like I did a pretty good lap, although I am still experiencing some issues with breaking, as I have done in the previous events. I am confident the team will solve the issue very soon. The race could be interesting with all the tire choices, especially seeing how quickly the supersoft is degrading."

McLaren-Honda

Fernando Alonso (12th, 1:38.826): "I think both Jenson and I could have got through to Q3 today: we had the pace, and we had been saving tires and engine ready to go for it… until the red flag ended the session. It was massively frustrating not to be able to complete my final lap in Q2 – there really was a lot of potential in the car today. Let's put it into further perspective: not too many races ago, we were just making it into Q2, now we're frustrated not to be in Q3. That's definitely a good direction in which to be heading. Finally, I slept like a baby last night: 10 hours without waking up once. Today I was full of energy. When I'm in the car, I still feel a small something through the corners and over the bumps, but I didn't take any pain-killers today."

Jenson Button (13th, 1:39.093): "Ironically, although it was neither successful nor popular, the qualifying system we used in the first two races of the year would probably have been better for us today! However, it's just one of those things: we ran used Options [tires] for our first Q2 run, then we waited until the circuit was at its best before fitting new tires. Like a few others, we were caught out by the Q2 red flag, which was frustrating. Being just outside the top 10 has its positive side though: we can choose our starting tire, and there are plenty of options with the three different compounds. The damp patch in Q1 was a little bit scary on slick tires – I think a lot of people therefore kept their DRS closed, which is what we did. You don't have any control of the car in those situations, but I still don't think we needed the red flag. And, by the way, in the next few races, we will get through to Q3!"

Eric Boullier, Racing Director: "It's a telling testament to our hearteningly inexorable advancement that, after qualifying today, we find ourselves disappointed not to have made it through to Q3 with either car. Undoubtedly, but for the red flag triggered by Nico's [Hulkenberg] mishap, both Fernando and Jenson would have been comfortably inside the top 10. So, although we're always wary of over-promising, it's undeniable that we're a team very much on the move. Working hard, together with Honda, we're getting there; and, what's more, we're enjoying the journey."

Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda: "Though FP3 was a mixed session due to the changing weather conditions, the team was able to setup the car nicely for this afternoon's qualifying. Throughout both Q1 and Q2 sessions, we were able show the potential of the car, and both Fernando and Jenson were looking strong contenders for Q3. Therefore, it was massively disappointing to see both cars having to abort their final flying laps through no fault of their own. Tomorrow's weather looks to be stable and dry, so hopefully we can show our race pace and finish in the points."

Manor GP-Mercedes

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]Rio Haryanto (20th, 1:40.264): "I'm not so happy with my lap today. Yesterday we were quite competitive and in the mix with Sauber but today this wasn't the case. It was difficult to get the tire up to temperature because we'd already completed a lap before the red flag. We'll need to look at how much of a factor that was for us when we examine the data this evening. Our race pace looked good in free practice yesterday so I'm still positive for tomorrow."

Pascal Wehrlein (21st, No Time): "The track was pretty dry by the start of qualifying and so slicks was the right choice. There's a bump on the start-finish straight and behind that a patch of water, which I hit, lost the rear and spun. It was very unexpected as everywhere else on the track was fine but difficult to see as it was hidden. I guess I was just unlucky as there was nothing I could do. The only fortunate thing is that I didn't hit the Armco too hard; it could have been a much bigger job ahead of the race. I'm disappointed not to qualify but the race is another day and our pace looked good in practice yesterday. It's not easy to start from the back but that's what we did in Australia and things didn't end so badly for me. We'll see what tomorrow brings and for my part I'll be giving it my best shot as always."

Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "As Rio's early performance on his opening run demonstrated, our decision to go early on the Supersoft could have gone either way. Sadly with Pascal it didn't go the way we wanted it to. We hadn't used the Supersoft all weekend so given the track was pretty much dry we thought it would be worthwhile doing our first run on that tire early in the session to give us time to make any adjustments ahead of the second run. Unfortunately the bump we all knew about upset Pascal's car such that combined with the wet track at that exact same point he was just a passenger; there was nothing he could do and unfortunately that was the end of qualifying for him. Rio's lap had a better outcome thankfully, so it was just a bit of bad luck on Pascal's part. We haven't made things very easy for ourselves for tomorrow but as Australia and Bahrain showed, if you can get a good start and beat the back of the pack on the opening lap, there is still plenty to fight for. We've got a way to go to perfect our approach to qualifying but I'm hoping we can still enjoy a good race tomorrow."

Haas-Ferrari

Romain Grosjean (14th, 1:39.830): "I think the car is better than it was yesterday, and we were much closer in terms of lap times. That's a positive. We were very unlucky with that red flag at the end of Q2. We didn't get to run a new set in Q2, so here we are. Not the best position but tomorrow, the race is long. The tire degradation is huge, so we'll try to get the best from that. Not an easy weekend for us between FP1, which was non-stop red flags for various reasons, then FP3 being wet. Everything's been made a little complicated for us. Tomorrow is a different day, but not ideal today."

Esteban Gutierrez (18th, 1:38.770): "It was quite a tricky session in the beginning. I was planning to do as many laps as I could as, basically, it was the first time I was out running on track. It was very difficult to get up to speed. I did my best with the conditions. Our focus now is on the race tomorrow and getting the best out of the car."

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal: "A very exciting qualifying. It was good to be back to the old system. For us it was the first time with this format, so we had a few hiccups, but in the end we got out OK. Our starting position for Romain is alright, P14. Unfortunately, Esteban didn't make it into Q2, so he will begin P18. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow and hope it will be as exciting as qualifying has been. I'm sure it will be with the tires playing a big role here, so I think it's going to make for a great race."

RESULTS

Pos	Driver	Car	Time	Behind
1	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes/Mercedes	1m35.402s	0.000s
2	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/TAG Heuer	1m35.917s	0.515s
3	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari/Ferrari	1m35.972s	0.570s
4	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari/Ferrari	1m36.246s	0.844s
5	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	1m36.296s	0.894s
6	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull/TAG Heuer	1m36.399s	0.997s
7	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	1m36.865s	1.463s
8	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1m36.881s	1.479s
9	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso/Ferrari	1m37.194s	1.792s
10	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	–	–
11	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	1m37.347s	–
12	Fernando Alonso	McLaren/Honda	1m38.826s	–
13	Jenson Button	McLaren/Honda	1m39.093s	–
14	Romain Grosjean	Haas/Ferrari	1m39.830s	–
15	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber/Ferrari	1m40.742s	–
16	Felipe Nasr	Sauber/Ferrari	1m42.430s	–
17	Kevin Magnussen	Renault/Renault	1m38.673s	–
18	Esteban Gutierrez	Haas/Ferrari	1m38.770s	–
19	Jolyon Palmer	Renault/Renault	1m39.528s	–
20	Rio Haryanto	Manor/Mercedes	1m40.264s	–
21	Pascal Wehrlein	Manor/Mercedes	–	–
22	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes/Mercedes	–	–

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