McLaren’s Lando Norris fronted a wild rain-hit Sprint Qualifying session at Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix on Friday.
China is hosting the first Formula 1 Sprint of the season, with an amended schedule for 2024 resulting in sprint qualifying now taking the place of second practice in the usual timetable, and the Sprint Race opening Saturday’s track activity.
Rain began to fall during SQ2 at the Shanghai International Circuit, leaving SQ3 taking place in wet conditions, with drivers struggling for grip throughout the session.
Norris set a time of 1:57.940s, which was briefly in doubt, as stewards quickly clarified the situation surrounding track limits, after Norris went off at Turn 16 on his preceding lap.
Norris’ time was ultimately reinstated, leaving the McLaren driver 1.3s clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at the front of the field, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso third.
World Champion Max Verstappen had a scruffy session as he wound up fourth.
Verstappen slid wide at Turn 6 on his first lap before running off at Turn 16 on his second push lap, with both times deleted for exceeding track limits.
Carlos Sainz was the lead Ferrari driver in fifth spot, with Charles Leclerc recovering from a high-speed spin – and light tap with the barrier – at Turn 7 to wind up seventh.
They were split by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who led the running during the early stages of SQ3 before being shuffled down to sixth.
Oscar Piastri was unable to match Norris’ heroics and claimed eighth, while Sauber impressed by making the top 10.
Valtteri Bottas briefly held second during SQ3 but ultimately slipped down to ninth spot, as teammate and home hero Zhou Guanyu rounded out SQ3.
The first two parts of the session took place in largely dry conditions, before rain intensified during the latter stages of SQ2.
That left Mercedes’ George Russell the wrong side of the cut-off, in 11th place, ahead of Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg.
RB’s Daniel Ricciardo and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were also knocked out in the second segment.
Alpine suffered a double SQ1 elimination, though it was Pierre Gasly who got the better of team-mate Esteban Ocon, despite Ocon being the sole beneficiary of the upgraded components that were fast-tracked onto the A524.
Williams’ Alex Albon was 18th, with a frustrated Yuki Tsunoda bemoaning a lack of grip as he struggled to 19th spot, ahead of Logan Sargeant.
Saturday’s Sprint Race is scheduled for 11:00 local time
