Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint qualifying: Norris surprises everyone
After a superb end to the session, which was disrupted by the rain, the top three were very exciting: Lando Norris started on pole for the Sprint race, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who thought he had pole, and Fernando Alonso! The Alpines were once again in a tough spot.
The first free practice session was not very representative, Friday morning, after the unusual setback that occurred. Could Lance Stroll reproduce his best time in sprint qualifying?
SQ1: Perez shows up, Alpine misses the mark
The drivers waited a few seconds before taking to the track, but in number: the rain was becoming threatening and they had to be careful not to get caught. A few drops were reported on the radios at the very beginning of the session.
Alex Albon took the lead first, before the first benchmark was set by Charles Leclerc (1:36.886). The few drops of rain did not affect the grip of the eastern track, as the lap times were dropping very, very quickly.
Max Verstappen closed the debates (1:36.456), but Pérez reopened them (1:36.110). The Red Bulls had an easy time and immediately showed that the competition could forget about the sprint pole. Quite the opposite of Alpine, especially Pierre Gasly who hindered Alex Albon at the entrance of the long straight.
Ferrari and McLaren drivers wanted to share the crumbs that Red Bull was gladly leaving behind. The surprising factor in this SQ1 was Bottas, who had set a good lap time at the beginning of the session and was holding a superb Top 10 position!
On the other hand, the Williams couldn’t get out of trouble, with both cars eliminated right away. George Russell saved himself from an awkward situation and Daniel Ricciardo also managed to get through, with the Alpines still far from making the cut. It makes you wonder if the rumors of a resale will not resurface, especially since the head of Renault, Luca de Meo, is present in China.
And the fire in turn 5 has started again! The cause of this outbreak is not known, but is quite surprising.
The eliminated from SQ1: Gasly, Ocon, Albon, Tsunoda, Sargeant.
SQ2: The beautiful story of Guanyu Zhou!
Time to pass a fire extinguisher over the burning grass and it was time to go. And we had to hurry, as the rain was coming! Everyone, especially the McLarens, rushed out of the pit lane. Lando Norris caused an unthinkable mess by waiting as long as possible before leaving!
Red Bull played it calm by ignoring the pit lane disputes. And Norris tried his gamble! His engineer even told him on the radio: “This lap is the one that will count!”
The Briton clocked a 1:36.086, beaten by Piastri in 1:35.8 on the other McLaren. The rain was very shy while the radars announced it with great fanfare.
Too bad for the suspense: Verstappen set the benchmark at 1:35.606, just ahead of Charles Leclerc. George Russell was the first victim of the rain, while it was party time at Sauber (Stake): Bottas and Zhou both made it to Q3, much to the delight of the crowd! Lance Stroll’s flash in the pan (no pun intended) quickly fizzled out.
The eliminated players from SQ2: Russell, Magnussen, Hülkenberg, Ricciardo, Stroll.
SQ3: The rain reshuffles the deck.
It was impossible to think of putting on soft tires with the rain falling. The scene from SQ2 was repeated, but with much less commotion.
And Charles Leclerc was caught first and was able to continue with a partially broken front wing. Max Verstappen set the time with grip conditions reminiscent of Turkey in 2020. Pérez clocked a monumental time, followed by… Valtteri Bottas! The Saubers were in great shape.
And Fernando Alonso used his experience to temporarily secure the provisional pole position (2:00.213), beaten by Hamilton, the first to go under two minutes. Lando Norris’ time, initially invalidated, was reinstated after three attempts and he will start in pole for the Sprint.
The results table is coming soon.
