SHANGHAI // Lewis Hamilton said F1 teams should be allowed more tyres after restrictions prompted some drivers to sit out final practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, meaning a raw deal for fans.
Hamilton claimed pole position, and he did it without going out for a meaningful lap in final practice yesterday morning as the rain teemed down in Shanghai.
FIA regulations only allow four sets of intermediate tyres and three of full wets for a race weekend
Accordingly, many teams opted to save them so they could have a fresh set for each of the three qualifying stints later.
That left fans who had paid RMB900-3,700 (Dh532-2,200) for a seat for the weekend looking at an empty track for much of free practice. Hamilton said maybe the rules should be changed.
“We all had to save our tyres,” he said after qualifying. “I don’t think it’s great for the fans that we don’t have a huge amount of tyres.”
With a dry race forecast today, teams took the gamble of cashing all their wet weather tyres in qualifying on a track described by Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg as a “tyre killer” because of its extended spiralling bends taken under braking after high-speed straights.
Hamilton, second in the drivers’ standings behind Rosberg after three races, thought the rules could be re-examined so drivers could at least “go out and run so they [fans] can see us driving”.
“I’m sure people are tuning in and turning up to the track to watch us drive and we’re kind of a little bit restricted, obviously with the engine mileage and also with the tyres,” he said.
“It would be cool if we had a little bit more tyre-life, then we would do some more running.”
Hamilton put in a masterful performance in qualifying, with his best time of 1 minute 53.860 seconds through rain and spray a hefty 0.595 of a second quicker than Red Bull Racing’s Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who joined him on the front row.
Red Bull’s quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, but more than a second slower than Hamilton.
Championship leader Nico Rosberg, who had been on pole in the previous Bahrain Grand Prix, completed the second row for Mercedes after running wide on his second lap and then spinning on his final flying lap.
Hamilton’s pole, the 34th of the 2008 world champion’s career, was a record for a British driver – one more than the late Jim Clark recorded in the 1960s.
“It is so slippery out there, the conditions – trying to find the grip, not making mistakes on your lap and really putting it together,” said Hamilton, .
“It was a tough session. I really enjoyed it. The car was feeling great. I hope that we can follow through tomorrow.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, last year’s winner in China, starts fifth with former teammate Felipe Massa sixth for Williams in his best qualifying of the season.
Rosberg, winner of the season-opener in Australia, said he had been struggling with the brakes in the final phase of qualifying but was “generally not quick enough today”.
VETTEL CONCEDES HE IS STRUGGLING AS RICCIARDO OUTPACES CHAMPION
Sebastian Vettel said he needs to raise his game after Red Bull Racing teammate Daniel Ricciardo again out-qualified the four-time world champion at the Chinese Grand Prix yesterday.
Ricciardo was no match for pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, who was fastest by almost six-10ths of a second, but he put himself ahead of Vettel by qualifying on the front row for the second time this season, with the German third.
Ricciardo was comfortably quicker than Vettel in all three practice sessions for today’s race and he has been Red Bull’s fastest qualifier in three out of four grands prix this season.
Vettel said he had no excuse as both drivers have the same car and that Ricciardo, in his first season with Red Bull, has simply been performing better than the reigning champion.
“I think Daniel is doing a very good job, he has not just had one good weekend, he had good weekends, and so far he seems to be able to get the maximum out of the car,” Vettel said.
“On my side, maybe I’m struggling a little bit more, but at the end of the day we have the same car.”
“There’s nothing between cars, so if he manages to beat me, then he beats me on the circuit, fair and square.”
Vettel, who won nine races in a row to close out his fourth successive championship in 2013, is not used to coming second to anyone, let alone his teammate.
“Of course, that’s not to my liking but equally, I know that I have to do a little bit better,” he said.
The affable Ricciardo, 24, is hoping to bounce back from this week’s failed appeal against his disqualification from second in Australia over a technical infringement. And he was clearly looking forward to trying to rein in the Mercedes of Hamilton, and keep Vettel behind him. “Looking forward to tomorrow. If it’s dry I think we can race up the front,” said Ricciardo.
“I’ll be ducking my head down the straight, like in a go-kart but yeah, we’ll hopefully hang on and fight for at least a podium I hope.”