Hamiton’s penalty: Was it fair?

The smile has surely slipped from Hamilton’s face after his disqualification

Lewis Hamilton’s most recent penalty has drawn as much controversy as you’d expect. The Brit’s demotion to 24th on the grid has ruined his chances of a probable victory, over a fuel issue which probably wouldn’t have cost him pole.

However, others have argued that the penalty was fair – after all, this isn’t the first time McLaren have under-fuelled their car.

Let’s have a look at both arguments…

For

On one side, rules are rules. FIA Article 6.6 deals with how fuel samples are carried out, and it clearly states that “the car concerned must first have been driven back to the pits under its own power.”

Clearly, this was not the case. While Lewis stopped on track with enough fuel for the sample, he should have been forced to go back to the pits like everybody else – and this would have caused him to drop below the limit.

Furthermore, it soon became clear that McLaren were not being completely honest with the media over the incident. After qualifying, Martin Whitmarsh stated several times that the stoppage was not fuel-related, which obviously turned out to be completely false. The problem was identified after Lewis left the pits, and management surely must have been immediately alerted to the situation.

Their behaviour in this case should not have earned them extra punishment, but still reflects very badly on them as a team.

Against

At the end of the day, a very simple argument may be the best one – a 23 place grid drop is extremely harsh for such an infringement.

The extra fuel in Hamilton’s car to bring him back to the pits would have slowed him down slightly, but nowhere near enough for him to lose pole position, as he evidently had it in the bag.

Others claim that since the incident occurred in Q3, the penalty should only drop him out of the top 10 and no further. This would make more sense, as the drivers knocked out in Q2 clearly suffered no loss from this debacle, and therefore shouldn’t gain a place.

Personal opinion

I feel that, at the end of the day, rules are rules. It certainly is a harsh penalty, but in no way unfair.

The half lap of fuel that was required cost him about 0.05-0.1 tenths of a second on his flying lap, well below the gap between him and Pastor Maldonado, but this makes no difference. Whether a car is 1 tenth or 10 seconds ahead, it doesn’t matter – all drivers should have to abide by the same rules.

Put it this way: If Michael Schumacher – in his domination years - qualified 0.5 seconds ahead of anyone else, while using an illegal fuel mixture that gave him an extra 0.1 seconds, does that make it acceptable? Of course not. It’s not a perfect example, as Lewis or the team clearly weren’t trying to break the rules in such a manner, but the fundamental point remains.

If McLaren/Hamilton want fair treatment from the FIA, then they will have to deserve it. All 24 drivers should abide by the rules in the correct manner, and if one breaks the rules, they should be punished accordingly, no matter how insignificant the incident. Look at Sauber – a tiny rear wing radius issue caused them to be thrown out of qualifying in Australia 2011, and they deserved it.

With such a tight and unpredictable 2012 grid, McLaren should know better than to get caught up in such petty incidents – it may cost them the title.

Hamilton thrown out of qualifying for fuel-related stoppage, Maldonado now on pole position

Pastor Maldonado will take his first ever pole position

Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from Spanish GP qualifying, as the team illegally didn’t fuel up his car to the correct amount required.

FIA article 6.6 states that if a fuel sample is required from a car (all cars in Q3 are required), then “the car concerned must first have been driven back to the pits under its own power”.

Hamilton stopped on track at Campsa corner, about half way through the track. It is understood that he did have the fuel amount required when he stopped, but was instructed to pull over by his mechanics. More than likely, if he had continued on, he would have dropped below the limit.

Lewis will start the Spanish Grand Prix from the back of the grid, behind the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan – who was allowed to race despite being 1.8 seconds outside the 107% rule.

According to Gary Anderson of the BBC, a McLaren engineer “turned the [fuel] tap to ‘drain’ instead of ‘fill’ briefly, realised his error but engineers sent car out.”

This of course leaves Pastor Maldonado on pole position for tomorrow’s race. If he can hold the pace he showed in qualifying, we will be in for a fascinating race.

Hamilton snatches Spanish pole position from Maldonado

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix.

It was no easy cruise though – Pastor Maldonado was all set to go fastest, until Lewis’ final attempt put him on top. Jenson Button and Mark Webber didn’t even make it into Q3, while Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher opted to stay out of Q3. Here is what happened:

Q1

The track remained silent for several minutes, until Paul di Resta exited the pits 5 minutes into the session. His first lap was disrupted by a slow Marussia, however.

Fernando Alonso went straight out on the soft tyre, setting a 1:24.326 to go on top. Kimi Raikkonen was on the hard tyre, and posted a 1:24.580. Sergio Perez, and then Lewis Hamilton, took over the top spot. Michael Schumacher set the fastest time in Sector 1, but only managed 3rd.

Pastor Maldonado soon went half a second faster than anyone else. His 1:23.380 time put him well on top of the timesheets with 5 minutes to go. The Red Bulls stayed in the pits until the final 5 minutes, both taking on the softer compound. Sebastian Vettel was half a second off Maldonado, while Mark Webber moved into 3rd. Kimi Raikkonen got within a tenth of the Williams.

His teammate Romain Grosjean soon overtook Pastor, improving his time by several hundreths of a second. In the final minute, Lewis Hamilton was briefly in danger of being knocked out, but quickly shot back up to 1st, another half second improvement.

Bruno Senna and Jean-Eric Vergne battled it out to survive Q1, but the Williams driver dramatically spun out in sector 3, leaving his beached car in 18th place for tomorrow. Narain Karthikeyan will appear before the stewards to try to start the race, as his HRT was miles outside the 107% rule.

Drivers knocked out in Q1:

18) Bruno Senna – 1:24.981

19) Vitaly Petrov – 1:25.277

20) Heikki Kovalainen – 1:25.507

21) Charles Pic – 1:26.582

22) Timo Glock – 1:27.032

23) Pedro de la Rosa – 1:27.555

24) Narain Karthikeyan – 1:31.122

Q2

Q2 saw several high-profile shocks, as both Jenson Button and Mark Webber were knocked out of Q2.

Webber decided not to set a lap time in the final few minutes, hoping his 1:22.977 would be enough – which it wasn’t. He will start just behind Jenson Button, who complained of massive understeer in his McLaren.

Like Q1, Pastor Maldonado briefly went fastest, but this time held it, leading Lewis Hamilton. Kamui Kobayashi went 9th, but slowed to a halt at turn 3, and was unable to take any part in Q3.

Felipe Massa was a dismal 17th, just a few hundreths off the Toro Rosso drivers.

Drivers knocked out in Q2:

11) Jenson Button – 1:22.944

12) Mark Webber – 1:22.977

13) Paul di Resta – 1:23.125

14) Nico Hulkenberg – 1:23.177

15) Jean-Eric Vergne – 1:23.265

16) Daniel Ricciardo – 1:23.442

17) Felipe Massa – 1:23.447

Q3

Unlike the other two sessions, Sebastian Vettel spent an entire minute sitting at the end of the pit lane, desperate to be first out on track.

However, when the session started, he simply cruised around for a single lap then pitted, indicating he is saving tyres for tomorrow’s race. This tactic was copied by Michael Schumacher, and both cars will start 8th and 9th.

Lewis Hamilton was the first to set a time, with a 1:22.5. It took until the final 5 minutes for this to be challenged, with Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen moving close to Hamilton’s time.

Fernando Alonso went fastest, to the delight of the Spanish crowd. It was short lived though, as Pastor Maldonado caused one of the shocks of the year so far, snatching top spot with just a few minutes to go.

He would have taken pole position, if not for a last-gasp dash by Hamilton to go half a second clear at the front. However, the McLaren was told to turn off his car near Campsa corner, and his car will surely be heavily checked in scrutineering.

Any steward action aside, Hamilton and Maldonado will start from the front row, with Alonso and Grosjean behind. Raikkonen, Perez and Rosberg are 5th, 6th and 7th.

Hamilton leads Bahrain first practice

Hamilton only set 11 laps

After all of the debate during the last few days, the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend had a quiet start, with Lewis Hamilton leading an uneventful first practice.

Lewis only set 11 laps in the 90-minute session, setting a 1:33.572 regardless. Sebastian Vettel had reverted to the newer-spec Red Bull car, and was 0.3 seconds off the McLaren.

Paul di Resta was 3rd, on the softer tyre. Chinese GP race winner Nico Rosberg was 4th, with Jenson Button 5th, who said he was not expecting to be fast this weekend:

"At the moment I'm not a guy to watch out for but at the moment the Red Bulls and 
the Mercedes look very quick. The Red Bull is surprisingly [quick] but hopefully 
we will know a bit more tomorrow.

There is a lot of work needed in our garage to improve what we have. I'm not happy 
today, we have tried lots of different things and none of them really worked so we 
will work late tonight and hopefully find something that will work tomorrow.

At the moment I can't make either [tyre] work."

Fernando Alonso was almost two seconds off the pace in 13th place, with teammate Massa a further two places back.

Timo Glock’s spin at turn 1 near the end of the session was the only noteworthy event.

Times from FP1:

 1. Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1:33.572          11
 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1:33.877  +0.305  21
 3. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1:34.150  +0.578  26
 4. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1:34.249  +0.677  23
 5. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:34.277  +0.705  14
 6. Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1:34.344  +0.772  26
 7. Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1:34.483  +0.911  17
 8. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1:34.552  +0.980  22
 9. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1:34.609  +1.037  17
10. Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1:34.847  +1.275  20
11. Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1:35.024  +1.452  22
12. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1:35.268  +1.696  24
13. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1:35.436  +1.864  21
14. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1:35.497  +1.925  24
15. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1:35.719  +2.147  19
16. Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1:35.929  +2.357  24
17. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:36.195  +2.623  20
18. Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1:36.330  +2.758  11
19. Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1:36.484  +2.912  18
20. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:36.591  +3.019  20
21. Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1:37.467  +3.895  17
22. Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1:38.006  +4.434  18
23. Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           1:38.877  +5.305  19
24. Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1:39.996  +6.424  23

Hamilton leads by a second in Chinese first practice

Hamilton led by over a second

Lewis Hamilton’s final effort put him on top in first practice of the Chinese Grand Prix.

The session started off very slowly, with no drivers setting a time in the first 30 minutes, aside from installation laps.

However, around 40 minutes into the session, light rain fell again, causing Romain Grosjean, Charles Pic and Felipe Massa all to slide off the track. Most cars retired to the pits until the shower died down.

It took until the final half hour for cars to resume testing. The track was still damp, as shown by Pic’s and Alonso’s cars twitching and sliding at corner exits. Mark Webber’s early time of 1:39.558 stayed on top for most of the morning, until a charge in the final 5 minutes put him down the order.

Michael Schumacher, then Webber, and Lewis Hamilton all set fastest laps in quick succession, before Lewis’ time ended the session on top.

Valtteri Bottas, Geido van der Garde and Jules Bianchi all drove in FP1 for Williams, Caterham and Force India respectively.

Times from FP1:

 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1:37.106            7
 2.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1:38.116   1.010   14
 3.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1:38.316   1.210   14
 4.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1:38.584   1.478   13
 5.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1:38.911   1.805   12
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1:38.977   1.871   15
 7.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:39.198   2.092   12
 8.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:39.199   2.093    6
 9.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:39.748   2.642   16
10.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:39.768   2.662   14
11.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1:40.056   2.950   14
12.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1:40.153   3.047   14
13.  Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1:40.298   3.192    8
14.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1:40.328   3.222   13
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1:40.540   3.434   12
16.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1:41.071   3.965   14
17.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1:41.204   4.098   14
18.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1:42.330   5.224   14
19.  Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1:42.521   5.415   11      
20.  Jules Bianchi         Force India-Mercedes  1:44.118   7.012    8
21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1:44.227   7.121   10
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1:44.500   7.394   15
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1:47.204   10.098  12
24.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1:50.465   13.359  11

Hamilton given grid drop after gearbox change

Lewis Hamilton’s streak of pole positions in 2012 is set to end, after the McLaren driver was forced to change his gearbox for the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

This leaves him with a 5-place grid penalty for the race. Gearboxes are specified to last 5 races in 2012.

So far, Lewis has started every race of the season on pole position, but with this news, he cannot qualify higher than 6th on Saturday.

Hamilton leads McLaren lockout in Malaysia qualifying

Lewis Hamilton ensured a 100% record so far in 2012, taking pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix. Teammate Jenson Button was a tenth behind in 2nd, while everyone back to 8th was separated by 0.4 seconds.

Michael Schumacher went 3rd, while Sebastian Vettel has chosen a different strategy for tomorrow’s race. Here is what happened:

Q1

Jean-Eric Vergne was knocked out of Q1

The two Mercedes drivers set the early pace with mid-1:37  times. They were soon split by Jenson Button, with Lewis Hamilton 4th.

Felipe Massa’s initial pace was very poor, leaving him only 18th. While he stayed out on the options, his teammate decided to use primes for Q1. Massa eventually improved to move out of the drop zone.

Mark Webber soon smashed the best time, setting a 1:37.1.

Within the last few minutes, the midfield began to move past Massa again, but not by enough. Jean-Eric Vergne aborted several laps, and failed to progress to Q2.

Drivers knocked out in Q1:

18) Jean-Eric Vergne – 1:39.077

19) Heikki Kovalainen – 1:39.306

20) Vitaly Petrov – 1:39.567

21) Timo Glock – 1:49.903

22) Charles Pic – 1:41.250

23) Pedro de la Rosa – 1:42.914

24) Narain Karthikeyan – 1:43.655

Q2

Massa once again failed to progress to Q2

Sergio Perez was the first car out of the pits for the start of Q2. He set his benchmark time of 1:39.043.

Pastor Maldonado went massively wide at Turn 11, almost hitting the barriers. Kimi Raikkonen went on top with an impressive 1:37.715.

Teammate Romain Grosjean made a mistake on his lap, but still went 4th, setting a sector best as well.

Felipe Massa went 9th, but Fernando Alonso quickly beat that, going 6th. Maladonado and Perez jumped into the top 10, pushing Massa out of Q2. The Mercedes drivers left it until their final laps to move back into the top 10, going 3rd and 4th.

Drivers knocked out in Q2:

11) Pastor Maldonado – 1:37.589

12) Felipe Massa – 1:37.731

13) Bruno Senna – 1:37.841

14) Paul di Resta – 1:37.877

15) Daniel Ricciardo – 1:37.883

16) Nico Hulkenberg – 1:37.890

17) Kamui Kobayashi – 1:38.069

Q3

Schumacher appeared in the top 3, alongside the two McLarens

Kimi Raikkonen was the first out of the pits, setting a 1:36.833 after a scrappy lap. Jenson Button and then Lewis Hamilton beat that time, setting a 1:36.219.

Sebastian Vettel’s time was a second off Hamilton’s, though he set his time on primes. Nico Rosberg made a mistake on his lap, going 3rd. Teammate Michael Schumacher moved up to 2nd.

Fernando Alonso took 9th, while Mark Webber jumped up to 4th. Sebastian Vettel moved up to 6th, while Kimi Raikkonen could only go 5th. Rosberg did not set a final lap, and was a disappointing 8th.

Jenson Button was within a tenth of a second of Hamilton, ensuring another McLaren lockout of the front row.

Hamilton stays on top in Malaysian second practice

Hamilton stayed on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton made his intentions clear for this weekend, by topping second practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Michael Schumacher pipped Jenson Button to second place by 0.002 seconds. Nico Rosberg was 4th, meaning Mercedes-powered cars dominated the top 4 in the timesheets.

Daniel Ricciardo impressed with a 5th-placed finish. Sebastian Vettel was 10th, and complained that “The car is all over the place. Poor balance.”

Paul di Resta spun twice during the session, as well as Michael Schumacher and both HRT drivers.

Track temperatures reached up to 45C, with a constant threat of rain that never materialised. These high temperatures resulted in very high levels of tyre wear, as drivers’ times began to slip after only 6 laps.

Times from FP2:

 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1:38.172           28
 2.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1:38.533  +0.361   34
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:38.535  +0.363   29
 4.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1:38.696  +0.524   34
 5.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:38.853  +0.681   33
 6.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1:38.891  +0.719   27
 7.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1:39.133  +0.961   29
 8.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:39.297  +1.125   33
 9.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1:39.311  +1.139   22
10.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:39.402  +1.230   25
11.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1:39.444  +1.272   35
12.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1:39.464  +1.292   26
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1:39.625  +1.453   20
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1:39.687  +1.515   16
15.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1:39.696  +1.524   29
16.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1:40.271  +2.099   27
17.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1:40.678  +2.506   34
18.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1:40.947  +2.775   33
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1:41.464  +3.292   25
20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1:41.681  +3.509   20
21.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1:42.594  +4.422   18
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1:42.874  +4.702   24
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1:43.658  +5.486   18
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1:43.283  +5.561   22

Hamilton leads Malaysian first practice

Hamilton beat Vettel by half a second

Lewis Hamilton got over his Australian GP disappointment to lead first practice of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Sebastian Vettel was 2nd for Red Bull, half a second behind the McLaren driver.

The two Mercedes cars of Rosberg and Schumacher were 0.8 seconds off Hamilton’s time, while Romain Grosjean was 5th. The Renault suffered a gearbox issue during the session, becoming stuck in seventh gear.

Kimi Raikkonen was 7th, but will be dropped 5 places on the grid for the race, after undergoing a gearbox change.

Valtteri Bottas drove Bruno Senna’s Williams, finishing 11th. The Ferraris were 13th and 15th, as they continue to struggle with the F2012.

The HRT cars propped up the back of the grid, with Narain Karthikeyan only setting 8 laps after transmission problems.

Times from FP1:

 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1:38.021           19
 2.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1:38.535  +0.514   21
 3.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1:38.813  +0.792   21
 4.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1:38.826  +0.805   19
 5.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1:38.919  +0.898   17
 6.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1:39.092  +1.071   20
 7.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1:39.128  +1.107   22
 8.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1:39.298  +1.277   23
 9.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:39.323  +1.302   15
10.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1:39.440  +1.419   19
11.  Valterri Bottas       Williams-Renault       1:39.724  +1.703   23
12.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1:39.783  +1.762   23
13.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1:39.896  +1.875   16
14.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1:39.910  +1.889   21
15.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1:39.980  +1.959   23
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:40.099  +2.078   23
17.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1:40.247  +2.226   19
18.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:40.469  +2.448   23
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1:40.857  +2.836   25
20.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1:41.085  +3.064   23
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1:43.170  +5.149   18
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1:44.580  +6.559   14
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           1:45.360  +7.339    8
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           1:45.528  +7.507   18

Hamilton back on top in Australia qualifying

The 2012 F1 season’s first qualifying session kicked off with a bang, as Lewis Hamilton will start on pole position for the Australian Grand Prix. Teammate Jenson Button was a tenth of a second behind, resulting in a McLaren 1-2. Romain Grosjean took a very impressive 3rd, while Nico Rosberg ruined his final lap and will start 7th. Here is the full report:

Q1

Raikkonen's mistake left him 18th

Timo Glock’s Marussia kicked off the first qualifying session of 2012.

Sebastian Vettel felt the need to go out early, running onto the outside kerbs during his lap, followed by Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso was badly held up by a HRT as he attempted to set a flying lap.

The two McLarens tussled for several laps, before being beaten by Nico Rosberg. Many midfield teams soon felt the need to take on the soft tyres, as the Force Indias escaped the drop zone.

Felipe Massa put on the soft tyres, and yet was only 16th. Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake on his final lap, and incredibly was out of Q1. Both Caterhams were 19th and 20th, while Timo Glock was ahead of Charles Pic. Both HRT cars were miles outside of the 107% rule.

Drivers knocked out in Q1:

18) Kimi Raikkonen  – 1:27.758

19) Heikki Kovalainen – 1:28.679

20) Vitaly Petrov – 1:29.018

21) Timo Glock – 1:30.923

22) Charles Pic – 1:30.670

Outside 107% rule:

Pedro de la Rosa – 1:33.495

Narain Karthikeyan – 1:33.643

Q2

Felipe Massa's dismal pace left him 16th

Paul di Resta’s Force India kicked off Q2. Vettel was the first to break the 1:26 barrier, but was quickly beaten by Lewis Hamilton.

The red flag put an end to this battle, though. Fernando Alonso was the latest driver to make a mistake, spinning into the gravel at Turn 1. The Spaniard was already 6th fastest, but would have no further part in the session.

As the green flag went out, Rosberg went in front of the McLarens, with Schumacher only a tenth behind. Romain Grosjean was an impressive 5th, while Mark Webber only went 7th.

Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo jumped into the top 10, shoving Alonso down to 12th, with Massa a disappointing 16th. Sergio Perez failed to set a lap time.

Drivers knocked out of Q2:

11) Jean-Eric Vergne – 1:26.429

12) Fernando Alonso – 1:26.494

13) Kamui Kobayashi – 1:26.590

14) Bruno Senna – 1:26.663

15) Paul di Resta – 1:27.086

16) Felipe Massa – 1:27.097

17) Sergio Perez – No time

Q3

It's a McLaren 1-2 followed by Grosjean

Nico Rosberg was the first out of the pits on used option tyres. However, due to a mistake in the final sector, he ended up behind Vettel, Schumacher and Button.

Lewis Hamilton’s time of 1:24.922 set the benchmark for the final set of runs. Mark Webber was next up, setting a 1:25.651 to put him second – for the moment.

In the final two minutes, 9 of the frontrunners set one more fast lap, with Ricciardo opting to stay in the pits.

A lock-up at Turn 3 ruined Rosberg’s chance of pole, leaving him 7th. Michael Schumacher took 4th, while Romain Grosjean shocked the entire paddock by snatching 3rd.

The battle for pole position was between the two McLarens. Button’s time of 1:25.074 was just off Lewis’ previous time, leaving the McLarens 1st and 2nd for the race tomorrow. Mark Webber pipped his teammate by 0.017 seconds for 5th.

Pastor Maldonado did well to qualify half a second ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, with Daniel Ricciardo saving a set of options for tomorrow’s race.