The Brit was almost two hundredths of a second quicker than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who will start second. Valtteri Bottas, of Mercedes, was third fastest, and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen fourth.
With his job done, Hamilton climbed scaffolding on the pit straight to salute the fans, who waved Union Jacks back at him.
It is turning into a Mercedes-Ferrari duel at the front, with the rest way back. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, fifth quickest, was nearly a second slower than Raikkonen.
The hope now is that the grand prix is on, rather than cancelled because of bad weather that may prevent the medical helicopter taking off. That was the case during practice on Friday, and more bad weather is anticipated for the race.
Even on Saturday when conditions were among the best they have been in recent days the ever-present smog impaired visibility.
The biggest shunt of qualifying was suffered by Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi, the 23-year-old Italian who is standing in for the unfit Pascal Wehrlein. Giovinazzi ran wide coming on to the start straight, caught his wheels on the slippery green paint, spun into the barriers and ricocheted into the middle of the road.
The afternoon’s action was delayed while the barrier was mended. Giovinazzi’s car, parts of which were strewn across the tarmac, was hoisted out of the way.
Max Verstappen suffered a lack of power and qualified 19th for Red Bull, who have serious remedial work to do if they are to enter the title fray.
Renault’s Jolyon Palmer was 18th fastest after his final flying lap was derailed by the yellow flags for the Giovinazzi crash.
Palmer said: ‘I was miles up on previous time so I think my lap was enough for Q2. I couldn’t believe it because the car has been feeling good this weekend. I had a flat spot on the first run which affected me.’
Palmer was due to be investigated by the stewards for speeding under the yellows but was confident he would be cleared. ‘I lost a second in the final sector,’ said the Brit. ‘If they look at the data I think they will see I was cruising across the line.’
Fernando Alonso drove well in his grotty McLaren-Honda, qualifying 13th while his team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 16th. ‘I’m driving like an animal,’ Alonso said over the radio…
Source: Lewis Hamilton to start in pole position at Chinese GP | Daily Mail Online
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