Qualifying summary - Vettel takes pole!

09:03, 14 Apr 2018
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Sebastian Vettel has secured his second pole position in a row, as the German snatched P1 at the death from his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who will be starting next to Vettel in another Ferrari one-two.
Q1
The question heading into Q1 was whether Daniel Ricciardo would be able to post a time, as his engine blew up in FP3. The mechanics were seen working very hard, and managed to prep the Aussie's RB14 just in time for him to drive one hot lap, which was enough for Ricciardo to get into Q2.
Pierre Gasly didn't make it there, as the Frenchman didn't manage to replicate his impressive form from Bahrain; P17 for the Frenchman, who did see his teammate Brendon Hartley make it out of Q1 alive. The other drivers eliminated were Sergey Sirotkin, Lance Stroll, Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc, with the latter spinning and almost crashing his Sauber on the last turn of the circuit.
Q2
Tyre-strategy came into play, as both Mercedes and Ferrari cars came out on the soft compound. The rest of the field drove on the faster ultra-softs, but the aforementioned teams were still the ones setting the pace. Kimi Raikkonen came out early and was followed by Sebastian Vettel in second, meaning that another Ferrari one-two was on the cards. Hamilton came out for a second run though and logged the quickest time of the session.
Both McLaren cars weren't able to make it into Q3 again, as Alonso and Vandoorne finish on P13 and P14 respectively. Kevin Magnussen, for the first time this season, wasn't able to make it into Q3, as the Dane finished on the mini-pole position in P11. Grosjean did make it out, meaning the Frenchman beat his teammate in qualifying for the first time this season.
The other people eliminated were Ocon in P12 and Hartley in P15
Q3
The Q3 saw all cars come out on ultra-softs except for the Haas of Romain Grosjean. The result was never really in doubt for Ferrari, as they took the last session by the scruff of the neck as soon as they came out. Raikkonen set the pace and broke the track record with his 1:31.200, which was the time to beat for almost the entire session.
The Mercedes cars never got close, with Valtteri Bottas again out-qualifying reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, as the Silver Arrows will make up the second row with P3 and P4.
Red Bull will be on the third row, as Max Verstappen narrowly beats out Daniel Ricciardo for fifth place. The Aussie, who had the least amount of track time out of all drivers because of his engine failure in FP3, looked impressive in Q1 & Q2, but couldn't make it happen when it mattered most.
Nico Hulkenberg leads the midfield in seventh, closely followed by Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean in that order.
Who will take the Chinese Grand Prix tomorrow? Will Vettel make it three out of three, or can Raikkonen or a Mercedes spoil the party? We'll find out tomorrow!