Chinese Grand Prix 2016: Nico Rosberg takes dominant pole as problems strike Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg continued his fine form in 2016 and will start the Chinese Grand Prix on pole after finishing comfortably ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who beat the Ferrari's to take second. Lewis Hamilton's rotten luck struck again after ERS issues in Q1 meant the Briton will start at the back of the grid after failing to set a time in the session.

Kimi Raikkonen looked in contention to challenge Rosberg for the top position, but a mistake in his final run on Turn 14 saw him fail to improve and will start third, one place ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who also made a mistake on the same turn after opting for just one run to save tyres for the race.
Williams' Valtteri Bottas will start in the fifth place ahead of the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat and Sergio Perez in sixth and seventh respectively. The two Toro Rosso's of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen will start in eighth and ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenburg, who failed to set a time in Q3 after losing his front left tyre during his final run in Q2.

There is much to look forward in the race on Sunday, and it could be one with lot of overtaking with Hamilton charging through the field from the back of the grid. Apart from that, there was a major strategy call made by the Mercedes team, when they sent Rosberg out on the slightly slower but much durable soft compound tyre in Q2 and the pole setter will start on the yellow band tyre, while Ferrari opted to go out on the SuperSoft tyres, which are quicker but are susceptible to degradation after just a handful of laps, which will hand the advantage to the Silver Arrows team.