Button ninth for McLaren; Both Red Bulls on the second row
Monday 3 October 2016 08:26, UK
Lewis Hamilton has reasserted his authority over Nico Rosberg by beating his title rival to pole position for the Malaysia GP by almost half a second.
Hamilton abandoned his final flying lap after locking up into the first corner but had already set an unbeatable time at the start of Q3 to claim pole by over four tenths.
Hamilton's front-row start will also be the 100th of his F1 career, a landmark that only Michael Schumacher has previously reached.
Hamilton has consistently struggled off the line this year, converting just three of his previous seven pole positions into victory, but insisted: " "Honestly I don't think anything is going to stop us."
Hamilton starts the mind games
World championship leader Rosberg made mistakes on both of his flying laps. Just fifth after his first run, Rosberg was already two tenths down on Hamilton through the opening two sectors on his final lap before running wide in the tricky last corner.
"It would have been close, but that's the way it is," mused Rosberg. "Lewis just felt more comfortable out there today and we've seen this year that the qualifying result isn't decisive."
Red Bull, who are expected to pose a genuine challenge to Mercedes on race day, locked out the second row with the two Ferraris immediately behind Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.
"It will be a close race because they [rivals] have very good long runs," said Hamilton. "But I think we were looking pretty good as well."
Verstappen has had the edge over Ricciardo all weekend and briefly appeared capable of demoting Rosberg. "It will be an interesting race," promised the young Dutchman.
But it's Hamilton, eight points behind Rosberg in their title battle, who will start the race as the heavy favourite to prevail after apparently rediscovering his mojo this weekend at Sepang and boasting a substantial pace advantage over Rosberg throughout practice and qualifying.
But a word of warning: Hamilton was also a above as well last month at Monza, when he also claimed pole by almost half a second before slipping to just sixth off the line, losing the race to his team-mate in the process.
This, though, was an emphatic performance from the Englishman and the perfect response to Rosberg's recent run of success.
"The car felt fantastic today, I really enjoyed it," added the Mercedes driver. "The lap? It could have been faster!"
Breaking a Noah's Ark sequence of two Mercedes cars being followed by a pair of Red Bulls, a couple of Ferraris and a brace of Force Indias, Jenson Button took ninth for the ever-improving McLaren outfit.
But team-mate Fernando Alonso will start last after taking two separate engine penalties - although this week's pain could be next Sunday's gain when the Spaniard will run the newly-upgraded Honda engines he introduced into his stock this weekend.
Malaysia GP Qualifying
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:32.850
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 0.414
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull, + 0.570
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, + 0.617
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, + 0.734
6. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, + 0.782
7. Sergio Perez, Force India, + 1.469
8. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, + 1.639
9. Jenson Button, McLaren, + 1.668
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, + 1.821
Out in Q2
11. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:34.577
12. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:35.001
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:35.097
14. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:35.227
15. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:35.369
16. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:35.374
Out in Q3
17. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:35.816
18. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:35.949
19. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:35.999
20. Esteban Ocon, Manor, 1:36.451
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:36.587
22. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:37.155
