Impressive qualifying improvements in China
The drivers set the stopwatches alight in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. The new tarmac, combined with improvements to the single-seaters, were responsible for this.
Like in Australia. But with even more notable improvements. Last weekend, times had improved by a significant second on average at the Albert Park circuit. This Saturday, March 22, in China, the difference is even more astonishing.
There are certainly the evolutions of the single-seaters compared to those of 2024 to consider. But the new asphalt of the Shanghai circuit played a crucial role.
In terms of times, Max Verstappen drove 2.843 seconds faster than his pole position last year. The Dutchman did not record the greatest improvement. The 2025 poleman, Oscar Piastri, drove 3.632 seconds faster than his reference from the previous year.
These improvements even allowed the drivers to break the circuit record. In 2018, Sebastian Vettel, then with Ferrari, set a 1:31’095” during Q3. Today, seven drivers did better in that same phase of qualifying: Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and Isack Hadjar.
