Hamilton edges past Vettel to take Chinese GP pole position

Johannesburg: Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton produced a superlative performance as he secured a pole position for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix after edging past Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in a close-fought qualifying round at the Shanghai Race Track on Saturday.

Hamilton, who was stunned by Vettel in Melbourne two weeks ago, clocked his best lap in one minute and 31.678 to finish two tenths of a second quicker than the Ferrari driver.

With the win in the qualifying round, Hamilton has captured his sixth pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix and 63rd pole of his career,Sport24 reported.

Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas qualified at third spot ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bulls' Daniel Ricciardo.

Meanwhile, Williams' Felipe Massa clocked sixth fastest followed by Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez of Force India at the seventh and eighth place, respectively.