Qualy: Hamilton back on pole at Sepang

Editor

Lewis Hamilton claimed his third successive pole position at the Sepang circuit on Saturday, comfortably ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.

Overcast and with a threat of rain in the air, qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix took place in the coolest conditions of the weekend.

Mercedes dominated the late afternoon session with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fastest in Q1, a session in which it appeared as if Ferrari would be able to challenge.

However, as qualifying progressed it was Red Bull who rose to the challenge but only against Rosberg as Hamilton pulled away.

He clocked a 1:32.850 to take proviously pole by 0.414s ahead of Rosberg.

The team-mates head into Sunday’s Malaysian GP with Rosberg leading the championship by eight points over the pole-sitter.

Max Verstappen was third in qualifying ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Sergio Perez was seventh, joined on row four of the grid by his Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.

Jenson Button will start his 300th grand prix from ninth on the grid while Felipe Massa completed the top ten.

Times
1 Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.850
2 Rosberg Mercedes 1:33.264
3 Verstappen Red Bull 1:33.420
4 Ricciardo Red Bull 1:33.467
5 Vettel Ferrari 1:33.584
6 Raikkonen Ferrari 1:33.632
7 Perez Force India 1:34.319
8 Hulkenberg Force India 1:34.489
9 Button McLaren 1:34.518
10 Massa Williams 1:34.671
11 Bottas Williams 1:34.577
12 Grosjean Haas 1:35.001
13 Gutierrez Haas 1:35.097
14 Magnussen Renault 1:35.277
15 Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:35.369
16 Sainz Toro Rosso 1:35.374
17 Ericsson Sauber 1:35.816
18 Nasr Sauber 1:35.949
19 Palmer Renault 1:35.999
20 Ocon Manor 1:36.451
21 Wehrlein Manor 1:36.587
22 Alonso McLaren 1:37.155