Motorsports Mondial
Photo: Reuters
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg grabbed the first pole position of his Formula One career, ahead of Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, beating McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and team mate Michael Schumacher in the process. Rosberg, who clocked 1:35.121, finished half a second ahead of Hamilton to give Mercedes its first pole since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix with Juan Manuel Fangio.
Hamilton clocked 1:35.626 but will be forced to start from seventh on the grid, after being penalised for changing his gearbox. This, in effect, means Mercedes also has its first one-two qualifying start of the year.
Meanwhile, this is Rosberg’s first pole in 110 races and the 26 year old did it with ease and a set of tyres to spare; his only other previous front row appearance was in Malaysia in 2010.
“It’s a great feeling, fantastic. For the whole team it’s a special moment,” Reuters quoted Rosberg as saying.
“Congratulations to Nico, it’s fantastic. I am very proud of him. We grew up together, racing together and always dreamed of being in Formula One,” said Hamilton, a team mate of Rosberg in the junior categories in the 2000s.
“I said ‘well done’ because that was a phenomenal lap time. It’s a bit of a surprise but there you go. He’s known as a good qualifier…I am happy for him,” said Rosberg’s team mate, Schumacher – a seven-time former World Champion.
Further down the grid, Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi was fourth fastest, ahead of Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Kobayashi’s team mate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (who finished first and second at the previous race of the season, in Malaysia) and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean completed the top 10.
By far the biggest surprise of the session was the poor performance from two-time reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull driver failed to make even the third qualifying stage, with a lacklustre time of 1:36.031 to finish 11th.
1. Nico Rosberg (Germany) – Mercedes (1:35.121)
2. Michael Schumacher (Germany) – Mercedes (1:35.691)
3. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) – Sauber – Ferrari (1:35.784)
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) – Lotus-Renault (1:35.898)
5. Jenson Button (Britain) – McLaren (1:36.191)
6. Mark Webber (Australia) – RedBull-Renault (1:36.290)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) – McLaren (1:35.626)
8. Sergio Perez (Mexico) – Sauber – Ferrari (1:36.524)
9. Fernando Alonso (Spain) – Ferrari (1:36.622)
10. Romain Grosjean (France) – Lotus – Renault (—)