As the teams prepared for qualifying for the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix one driver who was not having a lot of luck was Mark Webber whose Red Bull had suffered from a serious electrical problem which restricted his running in the previous practice session. It was likely that he will not use KERS during qualifying. With only twenty minutes left until the start of qualifying his car was up on stands while his mechanics worked on it. On the weather front it was going to be a dry session. For the AT&T Williams team it was a question of how far they can get through the qualifying periods. If they could get both cars into the second period it would be a big achievement given their practice pace.

The twenty minute period would get underway with Di Resta nd Perez taking to the track. Heidfeld would be next out followed by a rush of drivers including Pastor Maldonado, Petrov, Hamilton, Button, Kovalainen, Trulli, Sutil, both HRT cars, Schumacher and Alonso. First time would go to Perez with a 1m:38.295. Di Resta would set a 1m:38.921. With fifteen minutes remaining both the Red Bull cars had yet to take to the track, joined by Kobayashi. Perez would improve with a 1m:37.585 with Heidfeld third. Both Webber and Vettel were now out on the track. Kovalainen was fourth followed by Pastor. Petrov would move into fifth as Button went fastest with a 1m:36.778. But Alguersuari was now fastest with a 1m:36.156. Alonso was now fourth with Di Resta fifth.

Massa was now in third, 1m:37.500, while at the top Hamilton was now fastest with a 1m:36.091. Alguersuari was second followed by Buemi, Vettel, Button, and Schumacher. But it was changing rapidly as Rosberg moved into fourth, 1m:36.611. Pastor was now twelfth, 1m:37.719, while Rubens was down in twenty first with a 1m:40.652. Several drivers were on quicker laps one being Vettel who goes fastest with a 1m:35.891. Button was now second and Hamilton third. Rubens was also on an improved lap while Pastor would pit. Rubens would move up to thirteenth, 1m:37.679, with Pastor now fourteenth.

As most of the field pitted after their first runs Vettel would lower his quickest time with a
1m:35.674. Team-mate Webber was down in seventh with a 1m:36.580. With six and a half minutes remaining Vettel was fastest from Button, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Rosberg, Buemi, Webber, Alonso, Schumacher, and Massa in tenth. On the softer tyre Kobayashi would move up to fifth, 1m:36.147, as Pastor returned to the track. Heidfeld would jump up the order to be second, 1m:35.910, on his second run. Perez would also improve moving up to fourth, 1m:36.046. Rubens was also back out on the track with he and Pastor currently fifteenth and sixteenth.

Now it was Di Resta's turn to move up near the top of the times going second with a 1m:35.702. Vettel had pitted and as the final minutes counted down it would be surprising to see him come back out. Pastor's lap would be a 1m:36.755 which would see him twelfth. Alonso would move ahead of Vettel with a 1m:35.389 followed by team-mate Massa who would set a 1m:35.478 to go second. Now it was Petrov's turn at the top of the times. He would set a 1m:35.370, only to be passed by Rosberg with a 1m:35.272. Rubens would also find time moving up to eighth with a lap of 1m:35.911. Webber was down in sixteenth with Pastor one place behind.

The period would come to an end with Rosberg fastest and team-mate Schumacher moving up to fifth, 1m:35.508. Petrov was second from Alonso, Massa, Schumacher, Vettel, Di Resta, Heidfeld, Rubens, and Button in tenth. On his final effort Pastor would improve to be fifteenth, 1m:361.12, seeing both Williams cars make it through to the second period. Those not making the cut were Webber, Kovalainen, Trulli, D'Ambrosio, Glock, Liuzzi, and Karthikeyan. As for Webber he was sent out by the team on hard tyres and could not match the pace of those around him. An encouraging period for the Williams team. Now it comes down to whether or not Rubens can make it into the final period.

The second fifteen minute period would commence with Alguersuari out first followed by Buemi and Vettel. Button and Di Resta would also leave the pit lane followed by both Mercedes cars. Alguersuari would set a 1m:35.888 on the softer tyre. Buemi was second as Button goes fastest with a 1m:35.858. Joining Button on the soft tyre was Hamilton who would set a 1m:34.486 to go fastest. Vettel was third behind the McLaren's. Alonso was fourth from Massa, Di Resta, Sutil, Alguersuari, and Perez in tenth. Rubens would move up to eleventh with a 1m:36.465 while Pastor was down in fifteenth, 1m:36.956. Neither of the Renault's had set a time but they looked to be only planning to have one run on the softer tyre.

The top seven had all pitted and it would be Alonso who would return to the track first.
Alguersuari on his second run would move up to fifth with a 1m:35.563 but his team-mate Buemi would take this spot with a 1m:35.500. Petrov's first lap would see him in fourth, 1m:35.149. Rubens had dropped to thirteenth while Pastor was sixteenth. With the final minutes counting down only the top three remained in their pits. Heidfeld would take to the track for the first time was Petrov stopped in sector one just before Turn six. He would get out of his car as the period was stopped as a result of having to clear Petrov's car. Even if Petrov does see his time get him into the final period he will not be able to take part. Best he can hope for come Sunday is tenth on the grid.

The drivers will have only enough time to complete one lap so there should be a rush of drivers all coming out of the pit lane. For Heidfeld his lap will be even more important as he has not set a time. The cars were queued at the end of the pit lane with Perez at the front. The drivers would start to return to the track all on the soft tyre. The top three were still in their pits. Massa would move past Perez on the road as the period came to an end it would come down to one lap. Both Torro Rosso cars remained in their pits as well. There were eleven drivers on the track all looking to improve and make it into the final ten. Massa would move up to sixth, 1m:35.437, while Heidfeld could only manage a 1m:36.611 to be sixteenth. Rosberg would move up to ninth while for the Williams team Rubens and Pastor would finish in fifteenth and seventeenth and out of qualifying.

With the end of the period it would be Hamilton fastest from Button, Vettel, Petrov, Alonso, Massa, Buemi, Alguersuari, Rosberg, and Di Resta in tenth. Those not making the cut were Sutil, Kobayashi, Schumacher, Rubens, Heidfeld, and Pastor. For the Williams team it was encouraging to see both cars into the second period of qualifying but it was also very frustrating to see them lack the pace to get anywhere near the top ten, especially when we have both Torro Rosso cars having achieved this.

The green light would go on for the final ten minute period. Button was first out followed by Vettel. Alguersuari was next out followed by Buemi. A 1m:34.421 from Button but this was easily beaten by Vettel with a 1m:33.706. Four cars were on the track with the other five looking to do just single runs. Button would pit as Alguersuari went third fastest and Buemi fourth. Both drivers had set times in the 1m:36s well of Vettel's pace. Vettel had also pitted.

Di Resta was next out onto the track followed by Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, and Hamilton. Alguersuari had also pitted as both Vettel and Button returned to the track for this seconds laps. Buemi had also pitted as the other drivers started their flying laps. The period would come to an end with Di Resta moving into fourth, 1m:36.190, but this would become fifth as Rosberg and Alonso took third and fourth. Massa was now fifth seeing Alguersuari seventh from Di Resta and Buemi. Vettel and Button would pit without improving as Hamilton moved into third, 1m:34.463. Rosberg was now fourth from Alonso, Massa, Alguersuari, Di Resta, Buemi and Petrov in tenth.

Another pole for Vettel and another somewhat disappointing performance from the AT&T Williams team. Given their starting positions it is going to be very difficult to produce any sort of good result in Sunday's race.