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Lewis Hamilton has made history by claiming an ‘incredible' first pole position as a Mercedes driver at the Chinese Grand Prix by 0.277 seconds from Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

The top 3 men in qualifying (Photo: WRi2)

Despite finishing behind the Ferraris in free practice three, Hamilton became the first British driver since Sterling Moss in 1955 to claim pole for the Silver Arrows in a qualifying session that was characterised by tactics.

Many drivers elected not to take to the circuit - or not set a time/fastest lap at all - until there were just three minutes of the session remaining in order to be able to start the race on medium tires; those who set a fastest lap will have to start on the softer Pirelli compound which has an expected life of around four laps.

Fernando Alonso will have to start on the soft compound (Photo: WRi2)

Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel fell into the tyre conservation category, with the world champion not setting a competitive lap and the McLaren driver coming across the line some 31 seconds slower than Hamilton's time.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB9 (Photo: WRi2)

They will line up in eighth and ninth, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg - another driver who failed to set a time - in tenth, and behind Daniel Ricciardo's much improved Toro Rosso in seventh. The group in front of the Australian will be headed by Nico Rosberg in fourth, Felipe Massa in fifth and Romain Grosjean in sixth.

Mark Webber, who was enjoying a clear speed advantage over his teammate in the practice and first qualifying sessions, ended the session in 14th after a fuel pump issue saw him step out of the car in Q2.

Other high profile scalps included the second McLaren of Sergio Perez in Q2 who lines up 12th between the Force Indias. Q3 saw Valtteri Bottas' Williams and Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber line up with the Marussias and Caterhams in 17th and 18th.

At the bottom of the grid, Marussia's Jules Bianchi once again leads that group in 19th, clearly ahead of teammate Chilton and the two Caterhams of Charles Pic and Giedo van der Garde in 21st and 22nd.

Unfortunately, that track marshall missed some of the action (Photo: WRi2)

Qualifying results* - Chinese Grand Prix
1.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'34"484 - Q3
2.Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'34"761 - Q3
3.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'34"788 - Q3
4.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'34"861 - Q3
5.Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'34"933 - Q3
6.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'35"364 - Q3
7.Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'35"998 - Q3
8.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 2'05"673 - Q3
9.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - no time - Q3
10.Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - no time - Q3
11.Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'36"287 - Q2
12.Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'36"314 - Q2
13.Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'36"405 - Q2
14.Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'36"679 - Q2
15.Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'37"139 - Q2
16.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'37"199 - Q2
17.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'37"769 - Q1
18.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'37"990 - Q1
19.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'38"780 - Q1
20.Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'39"537 - Q1
21.Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'39"614 - Q1
22.Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'39"660 - Q1

*Unofficial

Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus E21 (Photo: WRi2)