Flying Hamilton takes pole in China

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes has taken pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix by edging out Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and
team-mate Valtteri Bottas in Shanghai.

Hamilton secured the 63rd pole of his career and the sixth in succession dating back to last season with a devastating lap of 1
minute 31.678 seconds around the 5.451-kilometre circuit. It shattered Michael Schumacher’s long-standing lap record at the track
of 1:32.238 in 2004.

Vettel, who won the opening Australian Grand Prix, starts second on the grid having trailed Hamilton by 0.186 seconds. Bottas was just 1
thousandth of a second behind in third while Kimi Raikkonen was fourth in the other Ferrari.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a notable victim in first qualifying as an “engine software issue” limited his running and his last lap was
halted prematurely by Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi crashing.