Nico Rosberg takes Pole Position in an action-packed wet Qualifying session in Shanghai

In an action-packed and wet weather qualifying session in Shanghai this morning, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed Pole Position for the Chinese GP ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen after Lewis Hamilton suffered an ERS problem and will start in last place.

During Q1, Manor F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein lost control of his slick-shod car over a wet patch on the start/finish straight and glanced the barriers in the early stages of Q1. His accident caused a lengthy delay to the session as marshals attempted to dry out this part of the circuit with a track sweeper.

With a grid penalty for reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton meant he was never going to start on pole, but his Mercedes failed to even figure in the fight thanks to an ERS problem that meant he failed to escape Q1 and was the biggest surprise of the session.
All were denied new-tyre second runs thanks to the Nico Hulkenberg incident and therefore had to rely on the ‘banker’ times they set on used rubber at the start of Q2.

A loose wheel on Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India brought an early end to Q2 and means he qualified tenth.

The wheel came off after exiting Turn 10 and bounced along the wall of the circuit before coming to a safe halt. An investigation into the incident will be conducted after qualifying and could result in a penalty. The loose wheel also brought out a red flag that inadvertently knocked out Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Romain Grosjean and the two Saubers before they had a chance at a second lap in Q2.

Meanwhile during Q2, Fernando Alonso groaned repeatedly with exasperation when told over McLaren’s radio that he would have to abort his second run, while team-mate Button’s response was “are you kidding me?! One day we’ll show our true pace”.

But it was Nico Rosberg who was took Pole Position for the Chinese GP with a lap time of 1.35.402 ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in second place who was 0.515 seconds behind him and ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in third place who was 0.570 seconds behind Rosberg.

Sebastian Vettel finished the session in fourth place ahead of Valtteri Bottas in fifth place and Danill Kvyat in sixth place, Sergio Perez in seventh place, Carlos Sainz Jr in eighth place, Max Verstappen in ninth place and Nico Hulkenberg who rounded off the top ten finishers.

Felipe Massa ended the session in eleventh place ahead of the two McLaren-Honda drivers of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button in thirteenth and fourteenth places and ahead of the two Sauber drivers of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr in fifteenth and sixteenth places.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Kevin Magnussen qualified in seventeenth place ahead of Esteban Gutierrez in eighteenth place, Jolyon Palmer in nineteenth place and Rio Haryanto in twentieth place.Pascal Wehrlein and Lewis Hamilton did not set any times during the session.

The classification of Qualifying for the Chinese GP is as follows:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1.35.402
2. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 0.515s
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.570s
4. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.844s
5. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 0.894s
6. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Renault, 0.997s
7. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.463s
8. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.479s
9. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1.792s
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
11. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.37.347
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 1.38.826
13. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.39.093
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.39.830
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.40.742
16. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.42.430
17. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1.38.673
18. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.38.770
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1.39.528
20. Rio Haryanto, MRT Racing, 1.40.264
21. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, No Time
22. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, No Time
Keep your eyes peeled on Driving for Pleasure for our Chinese GP Race report tomorrow.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa