SHANGHAI // Lewis Hamilton's first pole position for Mercedes at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday allowed the 2008 Formula One world champion to relive old memories and prove the critics wrong once again.
The 27 year old could scarcely of dreamed of such a turnaround after agreeing to join the team last year at a time when their car was considerably off the pace being set by McLaren – with whom he ended last season on pole in Brazil.
Yet, in only his third race as a Mercedes driver, he swept to a 27th career pole with every expectation of a second podium finish of the year after taking third place in Malaysia last month.
It was, he said, up there with his first in 2007.
“Every pole is special in its own way. I feel very privileged to just even have one, let alone the amount that I have,” Hamilton said. “Being in a new team, and where we are today, it does feel like it is the first and hopefully the first of many.
“I’m pleased I have this feeling, the excitement that I have when I’m at the top. I’ve been racing for so long, so many years, and I’ve had the feeling quite a few times. But it’s great to still have that energy and buzz when it does come together.”
The Briton arrived in Shanghai feeling under the weather, suffering from an allergy that forced him to cancel all media engagements on Thursday.
Hamilton had also been struggling to get comfortable in the car, still adjusting to the setup and different ways of doing things.
His teammate, Nico Rosberg, winner for Mercedes last year in China, led the timesheets in first free practice on Friday and Ferrari's Felipe Massa was fastest overall on the day.
“Coming here we never expected to be as high as we are, I definitely didn’t expect it,” said Hamilton. “So it’s a real pleasure and a bonus for us to have such a position but it’s still all to play for tomorrow. We’ve still a lot of work to do with the car but the guys are on it, I can tell, which is a real positive feeling.”
Asked how much satisfaction he derived from showing up the critics who said he was a fool to leave McLaren, Hamilton smiled.
“You can’t really answer it in one result but definitely, bit by bit, the more and more we impress and improve they have to stand to be corrected,” he replied.
“Today is such a blessing to be here because it was such a big change for me and a big step for me. I think I made the right choice.”
MORE TROUBLE FOR WEBBER
That meant he was banished to last on the starting grid.
Chinese GP qualifying results
1 Hamilton, Mercedes 1m 34.484s
2 Raikkonen, Lotus 1.34.761
3 Alonso, Ferrari 1.34.788
4 Rosberg, Mercedes 1.34.681
5 Massa, Ferrari 1.34.933
6 Grosjean, Lotus 1.35.364
7 Ricciardo, Toro Rosso 1.35.998
8 Button, McLaren 2.05.673
9 Vettel, Red Bull no time
10 Hulkenberg, Sauber no time
Top 10 qualifiers must start on the tyres they qualified on
11 Di Resta, Force India 1.36.287
12 Perez, McLaren 1.36.314
13 Sutil, Force India 1.36.405
14 Webber, Red Bull-x 1.36.679
15 Maldonado, Williams 1.37.139
16 Vergne, Toro Rosso 1.37.199
17 Bottas, Williams 1.37.769
18 Gutierrez, Sauber 1.37.990
19 Bianchi, Marussia 1.38.780
20 Chilton, Marussia 1.39.537
21 Pic, Caterham 1.39.614
22 V' der Garde, Caterham 1.39.932
x-Will start from the back of the grid due to fuel irregularity during qualifying
Drivers’ championship
Sebastian Vettel, Germany 40 pts
Kimi Raikkonen, Finland 31
Mark Webber, Australia 26
Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain 25
Felipe Massa, Brazil 22
Fernando Alonso, Spain 18
Nico Rosberg, Germany 12
Romain Grosjean, France 9
Adrian Sutil, Germany 6
Paul di Resta, Great Britain 4
Nico Hulkenberg, Germany 4
Jenson Button, Great Britain 2
Sergio Perez, Mexico 2
Jean-Eric Vergne, France 1
Jules Bianchi, France 0
Charles Pic, France 0
Max Chilton, Great Britain 0
Giedo van der Garde, Holland 0
Daniel Ricciardo, Australia 0
Esteban Gutierrez, Mexico 0
Pastor Maldonado, Venezuela 0
Valtteri Bottas, Finland 0
Constructors’ championship
Red Bull Racing 66 pts
Lotus-Renault 40
Ferrari 40
Mercedes-GP 37
Force India-Mercedes 10
McLaren-Mercedes 4
Sauber-Ferrari 4
Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1
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