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Formula One
F1: Hamilton Beats Ferraris in Qualifying at Shanghai
McLaren man will start ahead of Raikkonen and title rival Massa on Chinese GP; Kubica down in 12th.
RACER & autosport.com  | http://www.racer.com/speedtv  |  Posted October 18, 2008   Shanghai, China
Hamilton edged title rival Massa by over half a second in qualifying at Shanghai. (LAT Photo)

To expect an electrifying Chinese Grand Prix start is only logical after the qualifying results from this Saturday at Shanghai’s International Circuit.

Championship points leader Lewis Hamilton will line up first, with the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen on his side, just a handful of days after the pair nearly collided on the first corner of the Japanese GP.The Brit’s title rival Felipe Massa will be right behind the Brit on the second scarlet car, sharing row two with the Renault of Hamilton nemesis Fernando Alonso.

Support for Hamilton can come from the fifth spot, occupied by Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren. Longshot title contender Robert Kubica's championship hopes now look all but over, as the BMW driver had his worst qualifying session of the season and ended up 12th.

"I think taking some positives from the previous race we came here strong and determined and in a good frame of mind," said Hamilton afterwards. "We have been competitive all weekend. Practice went well and qualifying was one of our best. The first run was not that great but the last lap was as close as I could get to a perfect lap."

Massa meanwhile displayed concern with the results, having lagged over half a second behind the McLaren: "We were struggling a little bit in the weekend and just struggling to make the right lap, and it looks like the McLaren guys had a more easier car to put the lap together," said the Brazilian. "Anyway we don't know how it is going to be in the race. We had a similar result in the last race, and had a very strong pace to win the race. I hope to have a strong pace to win the race and try and see if we can improve our car a bit, especially on the long stints."

Red Bull's Mark Webber took sixth, but will lose that place thanks to an engine change penalty, which will elevate Nick Heidfeld into the top six for BMW. Both Toro Rossos made the top ten again, and took eighth and 10th places in Q3 – Sebastian Vettel 1.2 seconds quicker than teammate Sebastien Bourdais. Toyota's Jarno Trulli will split them.

Although Kubica had been unhappy with his car in Friday practice, things looked more promising when he took a close third place this morning. He slumped back to 12th in qualifying however, and although he will gain one position when Webber receives his engine change penalty, that will be little consolation for the Pole, who has only been eliminated in Q2 twice before in his F1 career.

Renault's Nelson Piquet and Toyota's Timo Glock failed to emulate their respective teammates' progression to Q3, taking 11th and 13th places prior to Webber's penalty. For the first time since Canada, Rubens Barrichello made it through to Q2 and took 14th place ahead of Nico Rosberg (Williams), but his Honda teammate Jenson Button had a less happy time. The Briton will start 18th behind Williams' Kazuki Nakajima, and ahead of only the evenly-matched Force Indias.

Red Bull Racing had a frustrating afternoon. With Webber receiving an engine change penalty after his morning practice failure, the team's hopes depended on David Coulthard, but the Scot was only 16th in Q1 after encountering Heidfeld while on a fast lap.

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Chinese Grand Prix qualifying results:

1) Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes , 1:36.303
2) Raikkonen, Ferrari , 1:36.645
3) Massa, Ferrari , 1:36.889
4) Alonso, Renault , 1:36.927
5) Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes , 1:36.930
6) Webber*, Red Bull-Renault , 1:37.083
7) Heidfeld, BMW Sauber , 1:37.201
8) Vettel, Toro Rosso-Ferrari , 1:37.685
9) Trulli, Toyota , 1:37.934
10) Bourdais, Toro Rosso-Ferrari , 1:38.885

11) Piquet, Renault , 1:35.722
12) Kubica , BMW Sauber , 1:35.814
13) Glock, Toyota , 1:35.937
14) Barrichello, Honda , 1:36.079
15) Rosberg, Williams-Toyota , 1:36.210

16) Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault , 1:36.731
17) Nakajima, Williams-Toyota , 1:36.863
18) Button, Honda , 1:37.053
19) Sutil, Force India-Ferrari , 1:37.730
20) Fisichella, Force India-Ferrari , 1:37.739

*Will drop 10 positions due to unscheduled engine change.
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