2012 Chinese Grand Prix qualifying
Nico Rosberg claims his first pole position in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg will start on pole for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Michael Schumacher and Kamui Kobayashi.
Lewis Hamilton set the second fastest time but will start seventh, due to a grid penalty for a gearbox change.
Rosberg was one of the first drivers on track for the final qualifying session, and quickly set the pace. He finished five-tenths of a second faster than Lewis Hamilton.
This is Nico Rosberg's first pole position and Mercedes' first since Juan Manuel Fangio led the field at Monza in 1955.
Sebastian Vettel was the biggest casualty of the day. He failed to make it into the final qualifying session, and will start tomorrow in 11th. This is the first time the double world champion has qualified outside the top 10 since 2009 in Brazil.
Meanwhile, his teammate Mark Webber finished Q2 fastest after a strong final lap in a revised version of the RB8. He will start sixth on the grid.
All drivers finished within the 107 per cent time, so all 24 cars will start the race.
2012 Chinese Grand Prix grid
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1'35.121 |
| 2 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 1'35.691 |
| 3 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 1'35.784 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1'35.898 |
| 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1'36.191 |
| 6 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1'36.290 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1'35.626* |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1'36.524 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1'36.622 |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1'35.903** |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1'36.031 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1'36.255 |
| 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1'36.283 |
| 14 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 1'36.289 |
| 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1'36.317 |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1'36.745 |
| 17 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1'36.956 |
| 18 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1'38.463 |
| 19 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 1’38.677 |
| 20 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’39.282 |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’39.717 |
| 22 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 1’40.411 |
| 23 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 1’41.000 |
| 24 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1’37.714*** |
107 per cent time: 1:42.931
* Five-place grid penalty
** Q2 time
*** Starts from pit line due to pre-race car changes
