Thunder and lightning made for a dramatic backdrop during
the initial timed run at the Sepang International Circuit before a torrential
downpour unfolded midway through the second session.
After a
35-minute delay it was reigning champion Hamilton who again held sway over his
rivals, but only just as the 30-year-old finished a mere 0.074secs clear of
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg back in third.
Hamilton, though,
gained a small measure of revenge by passing Rosberg and then slowing himself,
suggesting there are still mind games going on between the duo.
Come the conclusion
Hamilton was left breathing a sigh of relief as Vettel - and not Rosberg -
emerged as his closest challenger.
"It's
always difficult when you've not driven in the wet, with the first lap the
unknown, you don't want to take too many risks.
"So you
have to get the banker lap you need and then the next one I was up at one
stage, but I lost a little bit somewhere.
"In the end
the team has done a fantastic job to get me up here again."
"You never
know. Just look outside, when it starts to rain it can mix up things,"
said Vettel, the first Ferrari driver to qualify on the front row for two
years.
"The car
felt good in dry and damp conditions, and on long runs we looked good in
practice, so we'll see what we can do. It looks like we are a bit closer."
He added:
"I'm annoyed by that, third place is not good enough.
"For
tomorrow, I'm on the clean side of the grid so that should help me pass Seb at
the start."
Red Bull duo
Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat line up fourth and fifth, with 17-year-old
Max Verstappen sixth for Toro Rosso.
The Dutch
youngster becomes the first teenager in 54 years to start in the top six.
Q1 unfolded just
as the storm threatened, with the circuit lit up by a series of lightning
strikes, whilst loud claps of thunder resounded overhead.
For McLaren, it
never rains but what it pours at present, as hopes of Fernando Alonso and
Jenson Button making it into the second session ultimately came to nothing.
Button at least
gained the upper hand over his more illustrious team-mate, pipping the Spaniard
by 0.110secs.
But the double
world champion made a key error on his final hot lap in Q1 and will now line up
18th, with Button one place ahead of him and Sauber's Felipe Nasr 16th.
The only rainbow
on the horizon for McLaren is they have improved on their opening qualifying
performance in Australia, cutting the gap to the lead car in Q1 from 2.836secs
to 2.262secs.
Despite that,
Button said: "It was easier than the last race.
"We've had
no issues this weekend which is good, and we've taken a massive step in
performance.
"We've not
challenged the other cars, but we are a lot closer. It is an improvement so we
should be happy with the step."
Alonso,
meanwhile, has no doubt his Q1 exits will be short-lived as he said: "It
(qualifying) was not too difficult or unexpected.
"We are
struggling with the pace, but the progress with the car has been fantastic
after Australia.
"I don't
think I will be talking to you after Q1 for long."
Merhi set a time
0.460secs outside the 107 per cent mark, whilst Stevens failed to take to the
track at all due to a fuel pressure problem.
Stevens would
like to think he will be allowed to race as he said: "It's incredibly
disappointing for me and the team.
"I'm not
sure what happens now, but personally from my side of the garage we showed we
could comfortably get inside 107 per cent. The time I set in FP2 would have
seen us through in quali."
With the rain imminent the remaining 15 cars formed a queue to get out on track for the start of Q2 in order to set a timed lap.
As always with
F1, just add water for excitement, and so it proved as a scramble emerged, with
Hamilton only just scraping through, whilst the big loser was Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn had
proven Mercedes' closest challenger in practice and seemed poised for a
top-three grid slot, but will now start 11th.
Pastor Maldonado
lines up 12th ahead of Force India pair Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, with
Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr 15th.
Final Positions after Qualifying:
1 Lewis Hamilton
(Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 49.834secs,
2 Sebastian
Vettel(Ger)Ferrari 1:49.908,
3 Nico
Rosberg(Ger)Mercedes GP 1:50.299,
4 Daniel
Ricciardo(Aus)Red Bull 1:51.541,
5 Daniil
Kvyat(Rus)Red Bull 1:51.951,
6 Max
Verstappen(Ned)Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:51.981,
7 Felipe
Massa(Bra)Williams 1:52.473,
8 Romain
Grosjean(Fra)Lotus F1 Team 1:52.981,
9 Valtteri
Bottas(Fin)Williams 1:53.179,
10 Marcus
Ericsson(Swe)Sauber-Ferrari 1:53.261,
11 Kimi
Raikkonen(Fin)Ferrari 1:42.173,
12 Pastor
Maldonado(Ven)Lotus F1 Team 1:42.198,
13 Nico
Hulkenberg(Ger)Force India 1:43.023,
14 Sergio
Perez(Mex)Force India 1:43.469,
15 Carlos
Sainz(Spa)Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:43.701,
16 Felipe
Nasr(Bra)Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.308,
17 Jenson
Button(Gbr)McLaren 1:41.636,
18 Fernando
Alonso(Spa)McLaren 1:41.746,
19 Roberto
Merhi(Spa)Manor Marussia F1 1:46.677,
20 Will
Stevens(Gbr) Manor Marussia F1 No Time
Note: Roberto Merhi's Q1 time of 1:46.667 was not within 107 per
cent of Hamilton's P1 time of 1:39.269, and Will Stevens didn't set a time.
Both Manor Marussia drivers will require dispensation from the FIA to be able
to start the race.
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