Qualifying
Lewis Hamilton swept to a second consecutive Mercedes pole position in China, his first for the team, underlining that the 2013 car has genuine pace. Rosberg might have joined him on the front row if not for a small mistake in the final turn, running slightly wide and ending up fourth. Raikkonen grabbed second just ahead of Ferraris Fernando Alonso in third, with team mate Massa unable to convert his blistering middle sector into more than fifth. Grosjean took sixth ahead of an impressive Daniel Ricciardo in his Torro Rosso. Eighth, ninth and tenth comprised Jenson Button, Vettel and Hulkenberg, opting not to run a hot lap to challenge for pole position on the soft tyres, instead playing a strategic game for the race to start on fresh medium tyres that could yield results as the soft tyres stamina was exposed. Outside the top ten shoot out, the big story was Mark Webber, who ground to a halt in Q2 after a fuel problem, leaving him lying in 14th place, which was then compounded by a penalty for being unable to supply a fuel sample to the FIA, demoting him to the back of the grid. Force India drivers Paul di Resta and Sutil took 11th and 13th places respectively, leaving them with a solid position to start regarding tyre strategy. Williams race win at Barcelona in 2012 must seem a distant memory as they struggled for pace to challenge the midfield, Vergne was unable to match his team mates pace after developing a handling issue, whilst rookie Gutierrez failed get out of Q1 in his Sauber. Both Marussias again out-qualified both Caterham cars to define their improvement in pace for the new season.