Lewis Hamilton is determined to secure pole position, despite having been handed a five-place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.
The McLaren driver qualified on pole in both Malaysia and Australia, but even if he’s quickest in China on Saturday, he will only start as high as sixth.
The 27-year-old remains determined to win the race from sixth though.
“We have still got a great chance to win,” said Hamilton in Shanghai. “We have still got a quick car and we will try and put ourselves in the best position possible to have the right strategy and to be quick enough that we can still fight for the lead.
“But I would settle for a podium. I always say I want to move forward. That is the key.
“It doesn’t change my approach; you still have to qualify as high up as possible,” he added “I won from third last year and I will just have to try and win from further back. I will have to try and get sixth if possible.”
His team-mate, Jenson Button, who has qualified on the front-row behind Hamilton on both occassions this year, remains cautious, despite having a better chance at starting at the front.
“You’d say it should make life easier for me, but does it? I don’t know,” said Button. “We have to wait and see.
“In a way it does, but then it also throws it up in the air a lot more. It’s a strange one. I now don’t know who’ll be alongside me on the front row – if I am on the front row.
“There is also the possibility, if Lewis and I are in different positions on the grid, of running different strategies. Sometimes you don’t want that.”
