Lewis Hamilton takes POLE for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai

Lewis Hamilton has beaten Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg to pole position in the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, Vettel is third in the Ferrari.

Mercedes have clearly recovered from the shock of being beaten by Sebastain Vettel’s Ferrari at the Malaysian Grand Prix two weeks ago, and Lewis Hamilton dominated qualifying in Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix to take pole position, in the process becoming one of only a handful of drivers to take five or more poles at one track.

To be fair to Hamilton’s team mate, Rosberg did manage to put in a cracking lap on his last run – just 0.042s behind Hamilton – to secure second place on the grid, and another Mercedes one-two start.

The Malaysian winner – Sebastian Vettel – could only manage third place, and a third place that was almost a full second behind the Mercedes duo, with the Mercedes-engined Williams of Massa and Bottas taking fourth and fifth, Kimmi Raikkonen sixth place in the second Ferrari, Ricciardo seventh in the Red Bull, Grosjean eighth in the Lotus and the Saubers of Nasr and Ericsson completing the top ten.

It looks like Mercedes are going to have an easier run in Shanghai than they did in Malaysia, with the race battle likely to be between the Ferraris and Williams for the leftovers, with Mercedes controlling the race from the front.

But one team not competing for points in Shanghai will be McLaren, with Button and Alonso starting in 17th and 18th, although they did seem more settled – and even a but quicker – than they did in Malaysia.

But clearly McLaren and Honda still have a way to go, and will pay no meaningful part in a Chinese Grand Prix that is likely to be Mercedes’ for the taking.