History may be against Hamilton retaining his title
Lewis Hamilton may have to defy history to win this year’s Formula One world championship after Sebastian Vettel roared to pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix.
No driver in the sport has failed to clinch the title after winning the opening three rounds, and Vettel is poised to complete the first part of the bargain after edging out his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for the second week in succession.
For Hamilton, already 17 points behind Vettel, will this morning line up only fourth following a disappointing day in the gloom of Shanghai.
The defending champion dominated practice here on Friday, but was unable to get his tyres to light up in the cold conditions, and lines up behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas for the second week on the bounce.
The Briton said: “Right now I am not thinking about the Ferraris, but I am trying to understand why we don’t have the pace. How long it will last? I don’t know. There’s nothing I can do. I’ve been disciplined all week.” Raikkonen appeared on course to start from pole only for Vettel to finish just eight hundredths of a second clear following a dramatic late lap.
The Ferrari driver finished half a second ahead of both Bottas and Hamilton at a track where, until Saturday, you had to go back to 2011 for the last time a non-mercedes car occupied the front slot on the grid.
On that day it was Vettel’s Red Bull, and here the German – now dressed in Ferrari red – could not hide his enthusiasm.
“To have that much of a gap is a bit of a surprise,” Vettel said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if that gap disappears and it will be a very tight race. ”