Chinese GP: Hamilton edges Vettel for pole

Lewis Hamilton claimed his sixth consecutive Formula 1 pole position in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, after a tense battle with Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel. 

All four Mercedes and Ferrari drivers had been closely matched throughout the opening two segments to qualifying, which followed the two Ferrari's leading the way in FP3 on Saturday morning. 

In Q2, Vettel had the slighest advantage of 0.015s over Hamilton, before the Brit found an extra gear at the death to lap in 1:31.678s, which was 0.186s faster than Vettel could manage.

By the margin of 0.001s, Vettel will join Hamilton on the front-row, Valtteri Bottas losing out by just 5.9cm. 

Kimi Raikkonen, fresh from setting, at the time, the fastest lap ever in Shanghai in Q2, struggled for balance in the shootout and faded to fourth. 

After starting last in Melbourne, Williams rookie Lance Stroll made it through to Q3 for the first time, and was 10th quickest, and will line up four places behind team-mate Felipe Massa.

Max Verstappen hit trouble in Q1, suffering with engine issues and will start at the back, and should prove how easy overtaking is, as he fights his way through the field during tomorrow's race. 

Giovinazzi crashes out 

In the opening segment of qualifying, the front-runners had a typically quiet session, with the focus as usual on the battle to be in the top 15 and not drop out. 

As well as Verstappen, Esteban Ocon struggled in his Force India and was slowest of all, with Jolyon Palmer, Romain Grosjean and Stoffel Vandoorne failing to make it through. 

Ocon, Grosjean and Palmer were unlucky however, with Sauber's Antonio Giovinazzi bringing out the double waved yellow flags at the final corner, after spinning out, hitting the barrier and coming to rest in the middle of the track.

All three had to abort their laps, although the stewards were unsatisfied that Palmer and Grosjean had slowed enough, and issued them with five-place grid penalties, and three penalty points.

Vandoorne missed out on making it two McLaren's in Q2, by just 0.060s. 

Nothing between Mercedes and Ferrari

After his Q1 crash, Giovinazzi couldn't take part in the second segment, and so only four drivers would fail to make it through to Q3. 

Marcus Ericsson was 14th quickest and makes it a Sauber seventh row, with Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso dropping out of the session. 

Alonso had battery issues whilst out on track, but was pleased with his effort, with the gap to the top 10 being around one tenth of a second. 

Like Vandoorne in Q1, Sainz missed out on a top 10 slot by 0.060s, just getting the better of Magnussen by 0.014s.

Meanwhile, up front, Hamilton and Vettel could only be separated by the margin of 0.015s, before Raikkonen came through to go 0.2s quicker than the rest. 

Pole Position shootout

During the shootout, Hamilton set the initial benchmark, a 1:31.902, which was around two tenths clear of the chasing pack, led by Vettel, which included a drift on the enterance to Turn 11. 

As Raikkonen faded away, it became a fight to join Hamilton on the front-row between Bottas and Vettel, which the Finn looked to have won, before Vettel came through in the dying embers to deny him by 0.001s.

Daniel Ricciardo was able to cement Red Bull's position as the third quickest team with fifth place, ahead of Massa. 

Nico Hulkenberg proved the star of the session, an impressive seventh in the Renault, ahead of Sergio Perez, Danill Kvyat and Stroll. 

Hamilton's pole lap was faultless and the 1:31.678 was enough to secure Mercedes their 75th pole in 150 race starts - a hit rate of exactly 50%.

It was also Hamilton's sixth pole in succession, something only Ayrton Senna has achieved, and his sixth in China.