Nico celebrates first pole in China

SHANGHAI - Germany’s Nico Rosberg rocketed to the first pole position of his Formula One career at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday in what will be an all-Mercedes front row with team mate Michael Schumacher alongside him.Schumacher, the seven times champion whose 91st and last win came in Shanghai with Ferrari in 2006, qualified in third place but will move up to second because McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton takes a five place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.The pole was the first for Mercedes with their own works team since the late Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix.Mercedes left the sport that same year and, despite considerable success as McLaren’s engine partner, only returned under their own name in 2010 after they bought the 2009 Mercedes-powered champions Brawn GP team.“It’s a great feeling, fantastic,” beamed Rosberg, son of Finland’s 1982 world champion Keke, whose pole came at the 111th attempt.His only previous front row appearance was in Malaysia in 2010 But this time he was so confident of the pole that he was in the pitlane and out of the car while others were still trying in vain to beat him.“For the whole team it’s a special moment.”The German swept to the top slot by a massive margin, with a best lap of one minute 35.121 seconds compared to Hamilton’s 1:35.626.