In qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, it was Lewis Hamilton who secured pole position for Mercedes. Hamilton’s team mate, Nico Rosberg will start in second place while Max Verstappen will start in third for Red Bull Racing.
Lewis Hamilton Secures Pole Position For Malaysian GP
Qualifying 1
In the first session of qualifying of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, it was a Mercedes 1-2. In this session, many drivers made mistakes on the newly resurfaced Sepang International Circuit. One such driver to make a mistake was McLaren’s Jenson Button, spinning his car in the second last corner. Making an exit from Q1 was Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson who will start in seventeenth place. Ericsson’s team mate, Felipe Nasr will start in eighteenth place. Jolyon Palmer qualified in nineteenth place for Renault after making a mistake in the last corner in his final qualifying run. Esteban Ocon out qualified his team mate, Pascal Wehrlein for the first time this season, qualifying in twentieth place. Wehrlein qualified in twenty-first. Fernndo Alonso was the slowest car on track and will start last on the gird for the Malaysian Grand Prix in twenty-second place. Alonso however, does have penalties after changing some engine components, explaining why he did not push hard in Q1.
Qualifying 2
In the second session of qualifying, it was a very similar story to the first, with the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg once again locking out the front of the pack in first and second. Red Bull Racing were third and fourth fastest. Making an exit from Q2 were another six drivers. Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was eliminated from Q2 after Jenosn Button posted a quick lap in his McLaren, securing him with a place in Q3. Bottas will start in eleventh. Romain Grosjean was the fastest Haas car today, qualifying in twelfth place while his team mate, Esteban Gutierrez qualified in thirteenth place. Renault’s Kevin Magnussen will start in fourteenth place while the two Toro Rosso cars of Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr rounded out the final positions of the session in fifteenth and sixteenth place.
Qualifying 3
In the final session of qualifying, in the early stages it was Lewis Hamilton who was the pace-setter, posting a 1:32.8 second lap. Making a mistake in his first run was Nico Rosberg, running wide in turn six, leaving the German driver and title hopeful in fifth place. In his second run however, Rosberg turned it around, being only just under two tenths of a second slower than Hamilton with one sector of his lap time to go. Rosberg however, once again made a mistake on his lap, running wide in the final corner of the lap. This ultimately meant that Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for Mercedes, setting the new lap record around Malaysia. Nico Rosberg was second fastest while Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen qualified in third place. Verstappen’s team mate, Daniel Ricciardo will start in fourth place, being out qualified by his team mate for only the third time this season. Failing to show their pace was Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel qualifying in fifth place. Kimi Raikkonen qualified in sixth. Sergio Perez qualified in seventh place for Force India while his team mate, Nico Hulkenberg qualified in eighth. In what is his 300th Grand Prix weekend, Jenson Button qualified in ninth place for McLaren, out qualifying Felipe Massa, who qualified in tenth place for Williams.
Qualifying Results from the Malaysian GP
- Lewis Hamlton, Mercedes, 1:32.850
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:33.264
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1:33.420
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1:33.467
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:33.584
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:33.632
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:34.319
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:34.489
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:34.518
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:34. 671
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:34.577 (Q2)
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 1:25.001 (Q2)
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas F1, 1:25.097 (Q2)
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:35.277 (Q2)
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1: 35.369 (Q2)
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1:35.374 (Q2)
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:35.816 (Q1)
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:35.949 (Q1)
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, `1:35.999 (Q1)
- Esteban Ocon, Manor, 1:36.451 (Q1)
- Pascal Wehrlein, 1:36.587 (Q1)
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:37.155 (Q1)
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