No silver lining for rivals, only Lewis Hamilton’s Silver Arrow

Red Bull’s quadruple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel was third fastest, but more than a second slower than Hamilton and outqualified by team mate Ricciardo for the third time in four races. Championship leader Nico Rosberg, who had been on pole in the previous Bahrain Grand Prix, completed the second row for Mercedes after running wide on his second lap and then spinning on his final flying lap.

Task cut out

The German will have his work cut out on Sunday if he is to win at the scene of his maiden grand prix triumph in 2012. Ricciardo, whose team lost their appeal earlier in the week against his exclusion from second place in Australia, bounced back in Red Bull’s best combined qualifying effort of a difficult season so far.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, last year’s winner in China, qualified fifth with new team boss Marco Mattiacci looking on from the pit wall after watching Friday’s sessions from the garage.

However, it was a day of mixed fortunes for the sport’s glamour team with Kimi Raikkonen failing to make it through to the top 10 shootout after struggling for grip all session long. Former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa qualified sixth for Williams, who had Valtteri Bottas seventh with both hoping to move up in the race. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg lines up eighth.

The grid: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 2. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), 3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 4. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), 5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 6. Felipe Massa (Williams), 7. Valtteri Bottas (Williams), 8. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), 9. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), 10. Romain Grosjean (Lotus), 16. Sergio Perez (Force India).

Live on Star Sports 4 – 11:30 am