Hamilton grabs pole at Sepang
MERCEDES boss Toto Wolff hailed Lewis Hamilton as being in “a league of his own”.
The world champion delivered an emphatic response to rival Nico Rosberg by claiming pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Rosberg is eight points clear in the title race following a crushing victory over Hamilton in Singapore a fortnight ago.
But the world champion returned to his dominant best after he blew Rosberg away at the Sepang International Circuit to qualify nearly half a second quicker than his Mercedes team-mate.
“Lewis has been in a league of his own the whole weekend, so his gap to Nico was expected,” said Wolff on Saturday.
Rosberg, winner of the last three races, has led virtually every lap since the summer break.
And following his most recent display in Singapore, the momentum appeared to firmly be on his side of the garage.
But Hamilton, who is one win shy of his 50th in the sport, turned in a dominant display in the heat of Malaysia to seal a crucial pole, and one the Briton will be desperate to convert into a much-needed victory.
Indeed Hamilton, who has endured a number of bad starts this season, has converted only three of his seven poles into wins.
“It definitely felt good out there and I never really felt under threat,” said an upbeat Hamilton.
Aside from the title race, McLaren’s motorhome has been transformed into a pub this weekend to celebrate Jenson Button becoming only the third driver in Formula One history to compete in 300 races.
And nobody will begrudge the Briton cracking open a beer in the so-called Dog and Button – complete with a dartboard, table football and pork scratchings – after he qualified an impressive ninth.
His McLaren team- mate, Fernando Alosno, however, will start at the very back after serving a 45-place grid penalty following a raft of updates to his Honda engine this weekend.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo will line up on the second row of the grid in third and fourth respectively, with the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen behind them.
British rookie Jolyon Palmer will start a disappointing 19th.