Home F1 Chinese GP: Norris has sprint pole in wet conditions from Hamilton

Chinese GP: Norris has sprint pole in wet conditions from Hamilton

19/04/2024

Lando Norris had the last laugh to score F1 Chinese GP sprint pole in tricky conditions from Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

SQ1:

It was spitting in the first part of F1 Chinese GP sprint qualifying, but it remained good enough for a dry run on the medium compound. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez set the pace with a 1m36.110s lap ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The weather remained cloudy though as Mercedes’ George Russell only made it in SQ2 on his final attempt. Missing out were the two Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly (1m37.632s) and Esteban Ocon (1m37.720s) in 16th and 17th but they managed to beat others.

Williams’ Alexander Albon (1m37.812s) was 18th with Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m37.892s) and Williams’ Logan Sargeant (1m37.923s) 19th and 20th. The session ended with another fire on the grass at Turn 5 which delayed the start of SQ2.

SQ2:

It was still sprinkling at the start of delayed second part of F1 Chinese GP sprint qualifying as the first run on the medium tyres became crucial. That proved to be the truth as the end of the session saw the track being declared as slippery and wet.

It was Verstappen in the lead with a 1m35.606s lap ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Perez. The rain somewhat aided the two Stake F1 Team cars where both made it inside the Top 10, with Zhou Guanyu inside by 0.038s margin.

It left Russell in the dropzone where he ended up 11th after a 1m36.345s lap ahead of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m36.473s) & Nico Hulkenberg (1m36.478s), with Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m36.553s) 14th and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m36.677s) 15th.

SQ3:

It was raining heavy all-through the final part of F1 Chinese GP sprint qualifying as Leclerc had an early off while few others had their moments while trying to get a lap time. The offs saw lap times deleted for the likes of Norris, Verstappen and Guanyu.

In fact, Norris’ final lap was deleted before it got re-instated which secured him a F1 Chinese GP sprint pole after his time of 1m57.540s. It dropped Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m59.201s) to second, who took his time but got the lap when it mattered.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m59.915s) was third with Verstappen (2m00.028s) only fourth. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (2m00.214s) was fifth from Perez (2m00.375s), who looked good early on but faded away and did not improve on his final attempt.

Leclerc (2m00.566s) recovered to sixth from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri (2m00.990s), with Stake F1 Team’s Valtteri Bottas (2m01.044s) and Guanyu (2m03.537s) rounding out the Top 10.