Chinese Grand Prix qualifying: Hamilton on pole for Mercedes ahead of the Red Bulls

Lewis Hamilton has taken his 34th pole at the China Grand Prix in Shanghai, beating the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel in to 2nd and 3rd.

Qualifying for the 2014 Chinese Grand Prix was a damp, chilly affair which had the effect of levelling the playing field. But no one told Lewis Hamilton.

His cracking form – and a crackingly good Mercedes – took Hamilton to his 34th pole position in F1 – beating Jim Clark’s record in the process – 0.6 seconds ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and 1.1 seconds ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Behind the Red Bulls sits Hamilton’s team mate, Nico Rosberg, followed by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in fourth and Williams’ Felipe Massa in sixth spot, with the top ten rounded out by Valtteri Bottas in the Williams, Nico Hulkenberg in the Force India, Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso and Romain Grosjean in the Lotus.

Kimi Raikkonen was unlucky to finish in eleventh spot after the conditions got worse on his flying lap in Q2, and Jenson Button also failed to reach Q3 and will start in 12th spot (and McLaren new boy, Kevin Magnussen , only managed 15th).

The expectation for tomorrow’s race is that it will be dry, which should play to Hamilton’s hand. Already out front, he’ll have the Red Bulls between him and Rosberg, giving him a good chance for a win and close the gap to current championship leader Rosberg in the process.

And with the McLaren’s (and Kini’s Ferrari) coming from well back on the grid, it could be another thrilling race.