Lewis Hamilton has achieved a pole position he claims feels as good as his first, but faces "a sizzling race", today according to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton finished fastest at the end of all three sessions at the Shanghai International Circuit in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.
But while the Briton was delighted, there was more trouble for Mark Webber, who came second in the last race in Malaysia after being controversially passed by Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel. The Australian qualified in 14th yesterday but was then relegated to the back of the grid due to a fuel irregularity.
Hamilton's 27th pole position – his first for his new team – moved the 27-year-old into seventh on the all-time list. The "ecstatic" former McLaren driver said the feat had surprised him.
"When I met Ross [Brawn, Mercedes team principal] last year I was confident they were making the right changes and we would start to see great results," Hamilton said. "But coming here we never expected to be as high as we are.
"It's still all to play for. We still have a lot of work to do with the car, but the guys are on it, I can tell, which is a real positive."
Asked to rank where this pole stands in his career, Hamilton added: "Every one is special. I feel very privileged to even have one, let alone the number I have. But being with a new team, and where we are today, it does feel like it is the first – hopefully the first of many. It's great to still have that energy and buzz when it does come."
It was Mercedes' first pole since this race a year ago when Rosberg took the chequered flag, and only the team's second since returning to F1 at the start of 2010.
Rosberg feels much of the decisive action this time will be played out in the first few laps, as the top seven drivers all start on the soft Pirelli tyre. The compound degrades ultra rapidly, to such an extent drivers could pit at the end of lap one as the tyre will be four laps old at that stage, given the three completed at the end of qualifying.
"A podium finish should be within reach if the soft tyres stay with me a bit longer," said Rosberg, who starts fourth. "After half a lap they completely disintegrated so I predict a sizzling race."
Hamilton added: "These tyres are very tricky this weekend. Making the option tyre last is almost impossible, so it's probably going to be a short stint at the start apart from [Kimi Raikkonen] who seems to be able to look after tyres better than most people."
McLaren's Jenson Button and Vettel, who line up eighth and ninth, start on the medium compound as they used that tyre in Q3. Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg starts 10th and has a choice of tyre as he did not set a time.
With the German almost certain to go for medium, he, Button and Vettel are likely to be the leading trio – in whatever order – after just a handful of laps. They, however, will have to use the soft tyre at some point, likely to be at the end of the race when the rest of the field will be coming back at them.
Joining Hamilton on the front row will be Lotus' Raikkonen, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in third alongside Rosberg. Felipe Massa starts fifth in the other Ferrari, Paul Di Resta is in 11th for Force India, with Marussia's Max Chilton 19th, having been promoted one place after Webber's demotion for not having enough fuel left to return to the pits and provide a mandatory one-litre sample.
The governing FIA said there was only 150ml in the tank. "An error with the fuel bowser meant it underdelivered 3kg of fuel," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
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