One-two for McLaren

Lewis Hamilton put his McLaren on pole for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang yesterday, as the team locked up the front row of the starting grid for the second race in a row, writes John O’Brien.

The Briton clocked one minute 36.219 seconds in the third round of qualifying to follow up his pole position in Australia last week and was due to line up alongside Melbourne winner Jenson Button, who finished 0.149 seconds behind, for this morning’s race.

“It’s been a good weekend so far. It’s been a tough day for all of us with the temperature and weather changes,” Hamilton said. “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and it’s very intense and probably the most exciting part of the weekend. But speaking for myself, I really enjoy it.”

Veteran Michael Schumacher was third fastest in his Mercedes with Red Bull’s Mark Webber completing the second row of the grid in fourth. World champion Sebastian Vettel finished sixth but was promoted one place above Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus, who lost five places on the grid for changing his gearbox.

Scot Paul Di Resta was due to start in 14th place, two places in front of Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.