Oscar Piastri secured first F1 pole in Chinese GP by 0.082s margin over George Russell, as Lando Norris slotted in third.
Q1:
The first part in F1 Chinese GP qualifying saw early yellow flag for a spin for Alpine’s Jack Doohan, who managed to catch it at Turn 9 and continue on. There was also a lap deletion for McLaren’s Lando Norris, who ran wide only slightly to drop to the back of the field.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did not have a great start either after a lock-up on the main straight. Red Bull’s Liam Lawson had couple of moments which included an investigation for failing to slow for yellow flag. He was cleared of it but Haas’ Oliver Bearman was under investigation for impeding.
He caught out Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. At the front, Norris ended up on top with a 1m30.983s lap ahead of Visa Cash App RB’s Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda in the Top 3. The fag end had Alpine’s Pierre Gasly (1m31.992s) bumped out in 16th along with Bearman (1m32.018s), who couldn’t get a final lap in.
Despite an early spin, Doohan (1m32.092s) managed to recover some time but it wasn’t enough in 18th ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto (1m32.141s) and Lawson (1m32.174s), who improved on his lap time on his final attempt, but it was still last as his dreadful run continues.
Q2:
The second part in F1 Chinese GP qualifying saw authority from Norris to set the pace with a 1m30.787s and not even go for a second one. His teammate Oscar Piastri opted for a second run on scrubbed tyres to be third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in the Top 3 in the session.
It was close for the Ferrari drivers but they managed to make it in, as did Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who had to abort his first quick lap due to Turn 1 moment. Amid troubles, Haas’ Esteban Ocon just missed out of a Top 10 finish in 11th with a 1m31.625s.
He led Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg (1m31.632s) in a good show ahead of the two Aston Martin cars of Fernando Alonso (1m31.688s) and Lance Stroll (1m31.773s), with Williams’ Carlos Sainz still struggling to be only 15th with a 1m31.840s lap.
Q3:
The final part in F1 Chinese GP qualifying saw Piastri take the first step with a 0.090s margin after the Australian’s 1m30.703s lap over teammate Norris. It was Verstappen in third ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’ George Russell in the Top 5, after the latter’s late lap.
His teammate Antonelli’s quick lap was deleted due to track limits which left him without a lap time to start the session. The second run saw Piastri improve to set a 1m30.641s lap to secure his career’s first F1 pole in Chinese GP ahead of Russell, who improved as well to be just 0.082s behind.
He set a 1m30.723s lap where he demoted Norris (1m30.793s) to third after the Brit bailed out on his final attempt. Verstappen (1m30.817s) was down to fourth after no improvement on his final attempt, which was similar to Hamilton (1m30.927s) in fifth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m31.021s) improved but only managed sixth as Hadjar (1m31.079s) managed to out-qualify his teammate in seventh ahead of Antonelli (1m31.103s). It was Tsunoda (1m31.638s) in ninth after a wide moment in his final lap, as William’s Alexander Albon (1m31.706s) rounded the Top 10.
UPDATE: Bearman was cleared of impeding Stroll in qualifying. The Canadian noted that the Brit came in his way but he was not impeded by the Haas driver. Here: https://x.com/fia/status/1903372501004046582
Hadjar was found to be released unsafely onto the path of Verstappen in Q3. The Dutchman had to take evasive action and so the stewards fined Visa Cash App RB with 5,000 euros after they accepted their mistake. Here: https://x.com/fia/status/1903390078606442642
Here’s how F1 Chinese GP sprint panned out
