LEWIS HAMILTON WITH RECORD LAP TIME ON SEPANG CIRCUIT

After losing the championship lead to Nico Rosberg in Singapore two weeks ago, Lewis Hamilton today took the title fight to the German with a blistering qualifying lap at the Sepang Circuit that earned his eighth pole of the season for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Briton posted a final Q3 time of 1:32.850 and while Rosberg improved enough on his final lap to claim P2, he could not compete with Hamilton’s pace and ended up four tenths of a second behind his team-mate.

Red Bull Racing locked out row two, with Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, while Ferrari took row three with Sebastian Vettel in front of Kimi Raikkonen.

 P.   DRIVER             TEAM       TIME      GAP  
 1. Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes AMG 1:32.850
 2. Nico Rosberg      Mercedes AMG 1:33.264 + 0.414
 3. Max Verstappen    Red Bull     1:33.420 + 0.570
 4. Daniel Ricciardo  Red Bull     1:33.467 + 0.617
 5. Sebastian Vettel  Ferrari      1:33.584 + 0.734
 6. Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari      1:33.632 + 0.782
 7. Sergio Perez      Force India  1:34.319 + 1.469
 8. Nico Hulkenberg   Force India  1:34.489 + 1.639
 9. Jenson Button     McLaren      1:34.518 + 1.668
10. Felipe Massa      Williams     1:34.671 + 1.821
   Q2 Fastest time: Lewis Hamilton 1:33.046        
11. Valtteri Bottas   Williams     1:34.786 + 1.531
12. Romain Grosjean   Haas         1:34.842 + 1.955
13. Esteban Gutierrez Haas         1:35.001 + 2.051
14. Kevin Magnussen   Renault      1:35.277 + 2.231
15. Daniil Kvyat      Toro Rosso   1:35.374 + 2.323
16. Carlos Sainz JR.  Toro Rosso   1:35.572 + 2.328
   Q1 Fastest time: Lewis Hamilton 1:34.444        
17. Marcus Ericsson   Sauber       1:35.816 + 1.372
18. Felipe Nasr       Sauber       1:35.949 + 1.505
19. Jolyon Palmer     Renault      1:35.999 + 1.555
20. Esteban Ocon      Manor        1:36.451 + 2.007
21. Pascal Wehrlein   Manor        1:36.587 + 2.143
22. Fernando Alonso   McLaren*     1:37.155 + 2.711
    * Penalty 45 grid places
    107% time: 1:41.055