Hamilton set his pole time on the soft tyre, which was used throughout most of qualifying by all the drivers. In doing so, he beat his own track record from last year.

Track temperatures peaked at more than 40 degrees centigrade in qualifying, with 27 degrees ambient. Similar conditions are expected for the race tomorrow, which gets underway just after 2pm. A one-stop strategy, which won the race last year, is theoretically fastest.

MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“Again we had unusually warm track temperatures today, with the drivers able to use their experience of similar conditions yesterday. With the soft tyre being approximately a second per lap faster than any other compound, we saw everyone using this in Q2, with no drivers trying a harder compound to start the grand prix as has been the case in recent races. The degradation rate of the soft tyre will determine the strategy tomorrow. A one-stop strategy is theoretically quickest, but if high degradation is encountered on the soft – a distinct possibility in these warm conditions – a two-stop strategy would be better. As we could see throughout qualifying, the gap between the top teams is very close, so strategy might make the difference; especially as there could be a reasonably wide pit stop window.”

HOW THE TYRES BEHAVED TODAY
HARD - Not seen in qualifying at all but could be an option in a one-stop strategy.
MEDIUM - Both Mercedes drivers and the Ferrari of Raikkonen used these in Q1.
SOFT - Used for the majority of quali, a full two seconds faster than the hard tyre.