Starting grid for the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix - MotorSportsTalk

If there were any doubts about Mercedes’ position at the front of the field in Formula 1 following Sebastian Vettel’s victory for Ferrari in Malaysia, then they will surely have been answered on Saturday in China as Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg locked out the front row of the grid for the German marque.

After finishing fastest in every single practice session in Shanghai, Hamilton proved to be the man to beat once again in qualifying as he claimed his fifth pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix with a fine lap.

However, he was fortunate not to lose out to Rosberg at the end after failing to improve his time on his second run in Q3.

The German driver came agonizingly close to his first pole position of the season, finishing just 0.042 seconds behind Hamilton for P1. Alas, the Briton was able to celebrate his third pole position of the year, continuing his 100% qualifying record in 2015.

Vettel was unable to get amongst the Mercedes drivers on the front row in China, finishing nine-tenths of a second behind Hamilton in third place. He may have given the Silver Arrows a shock last time out, but he faces a stiff challenge to hang onto their coattails in Shanghai on Sunday.

The battle for the points promises to be a close one as Williams, Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Sauber jockey for position, whilst Lotus and even McLaren hold hopes of a breakthrough top-ten finish in China.

You can watch the Chinese Grand Prix live on NBCSN and Live Extra from 1:30am ET on Sunday.

FROM THE STEWARDS’ OFFICE

There are no concerns about Manor’s participation in this weekend’s race as both Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi qualified inside the 107% time.

STARTING GRID FOR THE 2015 CHINESE GRAND PRIX

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
4. Felipe Massa Williams
5. Valtteri Bottas Williams
6. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
7. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus
9. Felipe Nasr Sauber
10. Marcus Ericsson Sauber
11. Pastor Maldonado Lotus
12. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull
13. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso
14. Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso
15. Sergio Perez Force India
16. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
17. Jenson Button McLaren
18. Fernando Alonso McLaren
19. Will Stevens Manor
20. Roberto Merhi Manor

Follow @LukeSmithF1

A late race caution set up a 14-lap shootout at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Illinois with Kyle Larson winning his second consecutive High Limit Sprint Car Series race over Rico Abreu.

Starting eight on the grid after a disappointing pole dash, Larson missed several major incidents as he worked his way to the front. On Lap 1 of 35, a five-car accident claimed Tyler Courtney and Michael “Buddy” Kofoid, who both took a tumble and before collecting three other cars. Once that red flag was lifted, it didn’t take long for drivers to get tangled again as the leader Danny Dietrich experienced engine trouble on Lap 8. When he slowed rapidly, second-place Brent Marks collided with his back tire, ending the day for both.

Larson moved up to fourth with this incident.

Another red flag on Lap 21 for a flip involving Parker Price-Miller set up the dash for the win.

“My car felt really good and then we got that red,” Larson said from victory lane. “I was kind of running through the crumbs before that in 3 and 4; I could tell the top was getting really sketchy. Parker was making mistakes up there.

“When the red came out, I could see there was a clean lane of grip – not just marbles. It’s hard to see when you’re at speed. I figured Rico was going to run the top and he did. I got to his inside a couple of times and I was like ‘please don’t go to the bottom,’ and I threw a slider on him. Then he went to the bottom and I thought I was screwed until he spun his tires really bad off the corner and I was able to hit the top okay and get another run and slide him. I got good grip off the cushion.”

The victory makes Larson the first repeat winner in the series’ five-race history. He beat Justin Sanders earlier this month at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio.

With 10 laps remaining, Larson caught and pressured Abreu. The two threw a series of sliders at one another until Abreu bobbled on the cushion and lost momentum.

“Anytime you race Rico and he’s on the wall like that, you have to get aggressive,” Larson said. “He’s pushing so hard that just to stay in the striking zone if he makes a mistake, you have to push hard too.”

For Abreu, it was his second near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps.

“I felt like I made a lot of mistakes at the end,” Abreu said. “It’s just hard to judge race pace. You’ve got Kyle behind you and [Anthony] Macri and these guys that have had speed all year long. I was racing as hard as I could and the mistake factor is more and more critical.”

Cory Eliason earned his career-best High Limit finish of third after starting deep in the field in 13th.

Macri lost one position during the race to finish fourth with Sam Hafertepe, Jr. rounding out the top five.

Visiting from the NASCAR Cup series, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished 19th in the 25-car field after advancing from the B-Main.

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway

Hitting the road. 👋🏼

Safe travels to all the racers this weekend — we’ve got teams heading for Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and all over.

The High Limit Sprint Car Series will be back in 6️⃣ days for a $28,023/Win, $1,500/Start show at Nebraska’s @EagleRaceway on Tues, June 6. pic.twitter.com/YhBa3vGoMD

— High Limit Racing (@HighLimitRacing) June 1, 2023

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