Formula One: Ferrari leads way in China

Formula One - F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai, China - April 14, 2018 - Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel after setting pole position in qualifying. REUTERS/Aly Song

Ferrari made Formula One rivals sit up and take notice after an ominous show of speed in qualifying for today’s Chinese Grand Prix.

World championship leader Sebastian Vettel took pole position with a lap more than half a second faster than that of Valtteri Bottas, the faster of the two Mercedes drivers in third place.

The German’s best time of one minute, 31.095 seconds - a Shanghai circuit record - turned up the heat on a chilly afternoon with Finnish team mate Kimi Raikkonen joining him on the front row.

“We thought coming into today that we would be fighting for the pole position,” said Bottas, whose reigning champion team mate Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth after aborting his final flying lap.

“But it was definitely out of reach today, there was nothing in the lap that we could have gained that much.”

Dominant isn’t a word that has been used to describe Ferrari since they chalked up five straight drivers’ titles.