Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda says Lewis Hamilton's "special" pole lap in China cost him a friendly 10 Euro wager with Toto Wolff that Sebastian Vettel would finish the day in front.
Ferrari looked strong all day and went one-two in FP3, though Mercedes closed the gap considerably for qualifying. After seeing Ferrari re-establish the advantage in Q2 Hamilton moved ahead in Q3, cementing pole position with a 1:31.678 late in the session -- 0.186s quicker than Vettel, who in turn was 0.001s ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
When asked if he thought Ferrari had pole position locked up, Lauda told Sky Sports: "Yeah.