2014 Malaysia Grand Prix - Qualifying Report: Hamilton takes pole in a Wet Weather thriller

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2014 Malaysia Grand Prix - Qualifying Report: Hamilton takes pole in a Wet Weather thriller

Published on 29 Mar 2014 11:10
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By: Tom Brooks

After a lengthy 45 minute delay to due to the prevailing weather, qualifying in Malaysia finally got underway in semi-wet conditions with the session expected to get drier as the session progresses.

A queue of cars made their car to the end of the pit-lane, with the two Mercedes cars being first out onto the circuit, quickly followed by Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham and two Marussia's. Most drivers chose the Intermediate tyre to head out on.

Marcus Ericsson was in the second Caterham in the queue and stalled the car, resulting in him being pushed back into the garage meaning that the Swede lost crucial running time around the track.

Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to set a fast lap with a 1.57.309 which was quickly bettered by team-mate Nico Rosberg who set a 1.57.189, he was followed by Ricciardo, Alonso and Nico Hulkberg.

Sebastian Vettel was the first driver who suffered problems with an Battery related engine issue meaning that the German had to pull into the garage in order for the team to complete a reset.

The intensity of the rain increased with just under 8 minutes remaining, causing the McLaren team who were yet to set a lap to send both drivers out in the hope of breaking their way out of the bottom six.

With 4 minutes left to run, Button and Magnussen had set laptimes good enough for 12th and 13th position. It appeared as if it would be a case of the last driver over the line in regards to who would make it through to Q2. The Mercedes team however, decided that they were unable to go faster with both drivers deciding to stay in the pit-lane.

Drivers were setting purple sectors and looked to improve, however with under a minute on the clock, Marcus Ericsson touched the white line coming out of Turn 3 and collided with the barrier resulting in the Swedish driver sliding down the circuit and almost reaching Turn 4 before he came to a halt, almost collecting Esteban Gutierrez in the process.

The session was not restarted which meant that the drivers not progressing through to Q2 were Maldonado, Sutil, Bianchi, Kobayashi, Chilton and Ericsson.

All drivers bar Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas decided to use the full Wet tyres for the start of Q2. Hamilton was once again the first driver out onto the circuit.

The session started off with incident as the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat and Ferrari of Fernando Alonso collided at Turn 10, resulting in damage to the steering arm for the Spaniard which originally was originally suspected to end his session.

With over 12 minutes left on the clock, the session restarted at 17.25 Local Time. Alonso was not expected to take part, but after some quick work by the Ferrari mechanics, the double World Champion got out onto the track.

Hamilton set the first lap of the session posting a 1.59.419, followed by Rosberg nearly a second down and then Magnussen over 2 seconds back.

Rain continued to fall, however drivers managed to improve their best times with the Top 10 consisting of Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo, Rosberg, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Magnussen, Perez, Raikkonen and Grosjean with just over 5 minutes remaining.

Jenson Button improved on his best by moving out of the drop-zone and into 10th place. His team-mate went off at the final turn, however the Dane recovered and made it back to the garage.

Kvyat, Gutierrez, Massa, Perez, Bottas and Grosjean were unable to break their way into the Top 10 Q3 session after times improved once the chequered flag came out, meaning that the fight for Pole Position would consist of Rosberg, Hamilton, Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel, Ricciardo, Button, Magnussen, Vergne and Hulkenberg.

Q3 got underway with Raikkonen's Ferrari being the first driver onto the circuit on Wet tyres, followed by Magnussen on Intermediates however the Danish driver quickly realised his mistake after an installation lap on the soaking circuit and quickly pitted for Wets. However, Button took a gamble and changed over to Intermediates after his team-mate had changed over.

As expected, Raikkonen set the first flying lap that was unexpectedly beaten by Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Rosberg and Riccardo as track conditions improved.

Drivers pitted for a fresh set of tyres with just under 3 minutes left for one final run. The intensity of the rain was beginning to increase however which casted doubt as to whether improvements could be made but Nico Hulkenberg defied those odds by posting the 7th fastest lap.

With a minute left to run, drivers were jockeying for track position which caused Sebastian Vettel to miss the cut for his final lap meaning that he would not be able to improve on 2nd place. Raikkonen crossed the line next but did not improve on 6th. Then came Magnussen who finished in 8th, Vergne in 9th, Hulkenberg in 7th, Ricciardo in 5th, Alonso in 4th and Rosberg who improved to 3rd.

This left Lewis Hamilton to take Pole Position for the Grand Prix with a 1.59.431 being his quickest lap.

The race is due to start at 17.00 Local Time (09.00 BST) tomorrow morning and with an even higher chance of rain expected for the race, it's set to be a classic Malasyian race.

Just a reminder that the clocks forward at 01.00 GMT this morning for our British readers.

Tom Brooks
Chief UK Editor

F1 News Fernando Alonso Jenson Button Valtteri Bottas Daniil Kvyat Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel Marcus Ericsson Esteban Gutierrez McLaren Ferrari Mercedes Marussia BAR