Lando Norris claimed pole during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese Grand Prix in what proved to be a dramatic rain-affected session, with the Briton initially seeing his time deleted before it was reinstated.
It was a frenetic SQ3 segment as the top 10 batted with slippery conditions, resulting in the likes of Max Verstappen having some off-track moments. While Lewis Hamilton looked to have claimed pole position by the end of the eight-minute session, after Norris lost his time, the McLaren driver’s lap of 1m 57.940s was given back, putting him in P1.
Hamilton held onto P2, ahead of an impressive Fernando Alonso in third, while Verstappen ultimately took fourth. Carlos Sainz was the lead Ferrari in fifth, while Sergio Perez joins him on the third row in sixth.
Charles Leclerc took P7, having gone off track earlier in SQ3, with Oscar Piastri following in P8. The Kick Sauber duo of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu enjoyed a good day to round out the top 10, marking a solid outing for Zhou in front of his home fans.
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:36.384 | 1:36.047 | 1:57.940 | |
| 2 | 1:37.181 | 1:36.287 | 1:59.201 | |
| 3 | 1:36.883 | 1:36.119 | 1:59.915 | |
| 4 | 1:36.456 | 1:35.606 | 2:00.028 | |
| 5 | 1:36.719 | 1:36.052 | 2:00.214 | |
| 6 | 1:36.110 | 1:35.781 | 2:00.375 | |
| 7 | 1:36.537 | 1:35.711 | 2:00.566 | |
| 8 | 1:36.542 | 1:35.853 | 2:00.990 | |
| 9 | 1:37.112 | 1:36.056 | 2:01.044 | |
| 10 | 1:37.544 | 1:36.307 | 2:03.537 | |
| 11 | 1:37.310 | 1:36.345 | ||
| 12 | 1:37.033 | 1:36.473 | ||
| 13 | 1:36.924 | 1:36.478 | ||
| 14 | 1:37.321 | 1:36.553 | ||
| 15 | 1:36.961 | 1:36.677 | ||
| 16 | 1:37.632 | |||
| 17 | 1:37.720 | |||
| 18 | 1:37.812 | |||
| 19 | 1:37.892 | |||
| 20 | 1:37.923 |
With rain starting to fall during the final moments of SQ2, George Russell was forced to abort his flying lap and ended the session in P11.
The Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg followed in 12th and 13th, with RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in 14th having also abandoned his final effort amid the rainfall. Lance Stroll was the final driver eliminated in SQ2 in 15th.
There was further disappointment for Alpine, with Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon exiting SQ1 in P16 and P17 respectively, ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon in P18.
Yuki Tsunoda was a surprise elimination after failing to improve on his time in the first segment of Sprint Qualifying, leaving the RB driver down in 19th, while the Williams of Logan Sargeant will join him on the back row in 20th place.
Formula 1
