Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/744537
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2016 57 Sport FORMULA 1 Dwarna with Mariella Dimech every Tuesday at 21.00 on TVM2 Hamilton's pole as Rosberg recovers to second Lewis Hamilton kept his slim championship hopes alive by claiming pole position for Sunday's Mexican Grand Prix ahead of his title rival Nico Rosberg ROSBERG, 26 points ahead of Hamilton in the title race, ar- rived here in Mexico knowing that a win tomorrow, and 10th or lower for Hamilton, would be enough for him to clinch the championship. But the German, who has been strangely out of sorts this week- end, was staring at a disappoint- ing fourth on the grid only to save his very best lap of the week- end until the closing moments to join Hamilton on the front row. The Red Bull duo of Max Ver- stappen and Daniel Ricciardo will start from third and fourth respectively. With the championship race reaching its final crescendo, Ros- berg, a winner in Mexico last year, has been well off the pace of Hamilton throughout the week- end. Hamilton was comfortably fast- er than the German in all three practice sessions, and while his 10th pole of the season rarely looked in doubt, it appeared as though Red Bull would throw a spanner in the title works. Hamilton can win each of the three remaining races, and still miss out on the championship. Indeed Rosberg can afford to fin- ish second on two occasions, and third once, to claim his maiden title. And at one stage Rosberg was on course to start behind not on- ly Hamilton, but Verstappen and Ricciardo, too, before he pulled out his fastest lap to pip the Red Bull pairing. While Rosberg, who was 0.2 seconds slower than Hamilton, he will be relieved to join his Mercedes team-mate on the front row. Aside from the championship battle, Jolyon Palmer, the British rookie who is bidding to prove to his Renault bosses he de- serves a second season with the team, will start from the back of the field tomorrow after he was ruled out of qualifying with a cracked chassis. Renault discovered the problem after final practice on Saturday morning, but they were unable to resolve the issue in time for qualifying. "I won't be taking part in quali after we found a crack in the chassis," Palmer tweeted. "Big shame as we were 14th in FP3 and aiming for Q2 again." His team-mate Kevin Magnus- sen qualified 14th, one place be- hind Jenson Button was 13th for McLaren. The 2009 world cham- pion, who will bring to an end his run of 17 consecutive seasons in Abu Dhabi next month, was four tenths adrift of his team-mate Fernando Alonso, who qualified 11th. Elsewhere, Nico Hulkenberg was fifth for Force India, while the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raik- konen and Sebastian Vettel, who threatened to take the challenge to Mercedes this weekend, a dis- appointing sixth and seventh. Lewis Hamilton Mexican Grand Prix: Qualifying Times 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 18.704secs 2 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:18.958 3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:19.054 4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:19.133 5 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:19.330 6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:19.376 7 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:19.381 8 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:19.551 9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:20.032 10 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:20.378 11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:20.282 12 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:20.287 13 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:20.673 14 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault 1:21.131 15 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.536 16 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing 1:21.785 17 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas F1 1:24.401 18 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:21.454 19 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:21.692 20 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Manor Racing 1:21.881 21 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:21.916 22 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault No Time Note: Jolyon Palmer did not set a time due to damage sustained by his car in Practice 3, he will start the race from pit lane.