Vettel on pole again to signal China crisis for Hamilton and Mercedes’ hopes
A CHEER in the Ferrari garage. And the sound of the script being ripped from corner to corner.
A season that had been widely touted as an extended lap of honour for Lewis Hamilton en route to a fifth world title took on a whole new complexion yesterday: the Brit was suddenly demanding entry to his own party, having qualified fourth for the Chinese Grand Prix.
It may be that by the end of today’s race Hamilton will have gate-crashed his way back inside, through luck or skill or team judgment. If, instead, Sebastian Vettel wins from pole position, it will be tough. Nobody in history has started with a hat-trick of triumphs and failed to win the title.
‘A turning point,’ said Damon Hill, the 1996 world champion, reflecting the mood in the broad, windswept paddock.
The cool air here, as opposed to the heat of Bahrain a week earlier, was meant to tip the balance Mercedes’ way. But, no, it was Ferrari who were half a second quicker than the silver cars, with Vettel pipping team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by 0.087sec. And such a Ferrari streak on this track of all places, where Mercedes have commandeered pole in each of the last six seasons.
Too hot in Bahrain; too cold in Shanghai, was the gist of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s analysis. ‘It is about getting the tyres into the right window,’ he said. ‘They overheated last weekend, but it was the other way around today.’
The track temperature during qualifying was between 15 and 16 Celsius, about five degrees lower than in practice on Friday — ‘night and day’ as Hamilton put it.
The world champion was out of sorts all yesterday. Struggling for balance, he spun on the wet artificial turf in practice and was never remotely on target for pole before aborting his final qualifying lap, knowing he was off the pace. He was even outgunned by his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who will start third.
‘Great qualifying, great car,’ hollered Vettel to his team over the radio. He added: ‘I was happy with the whole lap. The car was unbelievable. It kept getting better. I didn’t need to fight
to find the fine-tuning. It is a track where you need to find that sweet spot, and, if you are a little bit of out, you drop a lot. But we are surprised by our gap over Mercedes.’ Who isn’t? Suddenly, the gloom that engulfed the Scuderia during pre-season testing in Barcelona — where Vettel did not find the car remotely to his liking — has lifted. That could not have been said after Melbourne, where luck favoured Ferrari as Mercedes miscalculated their strategy; it was partly suggested by their briskness in Bahrain; but is was compellingly true after yesterday’s emphatic statement.
As Hamilton admitted: ‘For some reason, their car is strong everywhere. How long will it last, I don’t know. There is nothing I can do about it. I have been disciplined all week.’ His mood was measured rather than totally downcast. Referring to his starting position, Hamilton added: ‘I am confident I can stay where I am, but moving forward will be tough.’
At least the mammoth 21-race season invites more ebb and flow than the punctuated calendars of the past.
Wolff was not accepting that an era had closed on one afternoon of battleship grey skies. ‘We learn more from setbacks than wins — when it stings, it sticks,’ he said.
Behind the top four came the two Red Bulls. Max Verstappen will start fifth, while Daniel Ricciardo qualified sixth despite his engine giving up on him in final practice. His mechanics worked hard to replace the broken Renault power unit and he squeezed out on to the track with three minutes of the first qualifying session to run.
Verstappen and Ricciardo will both hope for upturns after troublesome starts to their season. Hamilton knows the feeling.