lewis Hamilton maintained Mercedes' perfect record in qualifying this season, holding off the two Red Bulls to capture his third pole position of the campaign on Saturday at the rainy Chinese Grand Prix.
Hamilton broke the record for most poles by a British driver in Formula One and put himself in position for a third consecutive race victory on Sunday. Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo was about 0.6 seconds off the pace in second place, with teammate Sebastian Vettel qualifying third.
The steady light rain and slippery track raised the prospect of rival teams challenging Mercedes, but Hamilton was well clear of the Red Bulls, although his main competitor - teammate Nico Rosberg - made mistakes on his final two flying laps and qualified fourth. Conditions are expected to be better for Sunday's race, with no rain and cool temperatures in the forecast. It was the 34th pole of Hamilton's career.
Defending Chinese GP champion Fernando Alonso, the fastest in practice on Friday morning, qualified fifth for Ferrari, while teammate Kimi Raikkonen was down in a humble 11th.
Williams qualified two drivers in the top 10 — Felipe Massa in sixth and Valtteri Bottas in seventh — a vast improvement for the team after it struggled in wet conditions in qualifying in Australia and Malaysia. Force India's Nico Hulkenberg qualified in eighth, followed by Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and lotus' Romain Grosjean.
Both Mclaren cars were knocked out in the second qualifying session for the first time this year. Jenson Button will start from the 12th spot, while Kevin Magnussen will be back in 15th.
lotus’ Pastor Maldonado did not start qualifying due to an engine problem that cut short his final practice round.