Once again it was Lewis Hamilton who dominated qualifying, beating Rosberg to pole by almost half a second. Behind the Mercedes pair it was much closer, with third to ninth covered by just 3 tenths. Disappointment for Ferrari, with Raikkonen stopping in Q2 and Vettel only managing ninth in the final session. Despite suggesting a performance improvement coming into this weekend, McLaren had to settle for 17th and 18th. Both drivers have grid penalties so they will line up at the back of the grid.
Mercedes were on top in Q1, despite being on the medium tyres for their laps. Perez also had a good run and set the third fastest lap of the session with a 1:49.006. Bottas made it through in the final seconds jumping to 4th in the times. Out in the first session were the two Manor drivers along with both McLarens. Nasr was pushed out by Bottas in the closing stages of the session.
Rosberg was top in Q2 with a 1:47.955, beating Hamilton by 0.029 seconds. However, Raikkonen’s session came to an early end when his car stopped out on track. He reported to his team that “something broke”. Hulkenberg was knocked out in 11th, although he was just 0.36 seconds off Vettel in 3rd. Kvyat and Ericsson were also out along with Raikkonen and Verstappen.
Hamilton had an impressive first run in Q3 with a time of 1:47.449, beating Rosberg who completed the lap in 1:47.895. He then further improved his lap to 1:47.197. Rosberg was unable to respond only managing a 1:47.655. Behind them it was incredibly close. Bottas was 3rd and Grosjean was less than a tenth off in fourth. However, a five place penalty means he will be starting in 9th. Perez had a strong qualifying and was 5th. Ricciardo was 6th, Massa 7th and Maldonado 8th. Vettel was a disappointing 9th, although only three tenths off third on the grid. Sainz didn’t take part in Q3 so finished the session 10th.