Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position, even as Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel lines up dead last after power unit problems prevented him from setting a time in Saturday's qualifying
Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from pole position, even as Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel lines up dead last after power unit problems prevented him from setting a time in Saturday's qualifying.The Mercedes driver set a scorching pace of one minute 30.076 seconds, the fastest ever around the 5.5-kilometer long Sepang race track, to beat Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen by just 0.045 seconds.
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Max Verstappen, celebrating his 20th birthday on Saturday, was third.Vettel, who crashed out on the opening lap of the last race in Singapore and fell to 28 points behind race-winner Hamilton, had appeared set to claw back at least some of the points he lost a fortnight ago this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton after claiming pole in Sepang on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Ferrari had been looking strong, with Vettel ending Friday's opening day of practice fastest ahead of Raikkonen, before the Finn reversed the order in final practice on Saturday.Mercedes, on the other hand, had struggled. But any hopes the German had of capitalising on the reigning champions' problems were dashed minutes into the opening 18-minute phase of the three-part qualifying session.
The four-time champion, whose Ferrari had been fitted with a new engine ahead of qualifying after he ran into trouble at the end of practice, was struck by a lack of power while still on his first flying lap.He trundled back to the pits and, while mechanics tried to fix the car and send him back out, the problems proved terminal. "It's part of motor-racing," said Vettel putting a brave face on the latest setback to strike his championship challenge. "For sure it's not ideal, not what you want especially on a day where you feel you've got it in you, got it in the car."
The 30-year-old's qualifying upset left the way clear for Hamilton to chalk up his 70th career pole position. The triple champion, who surpassed Michael Schumacher previous record haul of 69 poles in Monza, is the first driver to reach the landmark. It was also his ninth pole of the season and fifth in Malaysia. If he converts it into a victory today, with Vettel lower than second, or outscores the German by more than seven points, the 32-year-old won't need to win another race this season to clinch a fourth title.
"Those laps, particularly the first Q3 lap, was very well put together, very nice lap, I don't really know where it came from to be honest," Hamilton, whose first flying lap in the final part of qualifying remained his fastest, said after the session. "It's a surprise to be up here. I'm very grateful." Daniel Ricciardo was fourth, the same position the Australian started from last year when he led Verstappen to a Red Bull one-two. Valtteri Bottas, unable to overcome Mercedes problems in the way his team-mate did, will start a disappointed fifth.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon in the Force India will start sixth. McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne was seventh ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg. Force India's Sergio Perez was ninth in the Force India while Fernando Alonso rounded out the top-ten for McLaren. Frenchman Pierre Gasly, drafted in as a last-minute replacement for under-performing Russian Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso, will make his Formula One debut from 15th on the grid. The 21-year-old lost out to Renault-bound team-mate Carlos Sainz by less than two-tenths of a second.
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