Norris braves fire and rain to secure chaotic Chinese Sprint Pole
The first Sprint Qualifying session of the season certainly did not disappoint, with rain and fire providing an entertaining stage for Lando Norris’ first pole position in 2024.
With just an hour of practice under their belts, it was prematurely time for the grid to fight it out for Sprint pole glory in the first Sprint Qualifying session of the season.
An additional test for the drivers in Sprint qualifying was the mandatory tyre compounds, with SQ1 and SQ2 requiring the medium compound, and SQ3 the soft compound.
Sprint Qualifying 1:
As the lights went green for the opening 12-minute session, the pitlane was empty despite engines firing up.
The first to make the jump were the Williams duo, followed by the majority of the drivers in intervals as they rounded the Shanghai International Circuit for the first out lap.
The 60% chance of rain seemed to arrive on Oscar Piastri’s out-lap, with the Australian reporting some drops as George Russell backed him up.
Receiving a ‘hurry up’ from their engineers, the drivers set off on their first flying attempts.
Russell’s first time was a dangerous one, putting him in between the Williams duo, while Lewis Hamilton settled into P3.
As for the Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz first found comfort in P5 before being pushed back, with Charles Leclerc leading the charge at the top of the order.
McLaren slotted into P2 and P3 after their first flying attempts, dispelling their worries coming into the weekend.
After his teammate topped the timing sheets in FP1, it was Fernando Alonso’s turn to do so, out-pacing the Ferrari.
Daniel Ricciardo jumped to P8 on his first run, still 1.2 seconds behind the benchmark that was now held by Sergio Perez.
Daniel Ricciardo on track during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of China. Image: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.
With four minutes remaining in the session, Albon, Russell, Ocon, Sargeant and Tsunoda were all in the elimination zone.
Carlos Sainz, holding an at-risk position in P15, promoted his SF-24 into the top five despite encountering a slow-moving Haas.
With just 30 seconds remaining, the drivers set off for one last-ditch attempt at a SQ2 appearance.
Albon and Sargeant’s times both weren’t quick enough to see them advancing, and it was a similar story for the Alpine drivers.
George Russell was at risk, however, scrapped though as he moved into P13, one position behind his teammate.
Ricciardo flew clear of the elimination zone, leaving his teammate stuck in P19 at a distance of around half a second.
As the chequered flag was waved, so were yellow flags as a fire had started once again at Turn 7 due to sparks flying onto the dry grass.
Sprint Qualifying 2:
Because of the fire, the start of SQ2 was delayed, with rain looming over the Shanghai International Circuit.
With the weather risk pending, drivers were more than eager to get out onto the dry circuit.
As a result, the drivers queued in the pitlane for around three minutes, losing tyre temperature, however, prioritising track position.
With cold tyres, the drivers battled it out in the pitlane, with a tense moment between Zhou and Ricciardo at the pit exit.
Lando Norris headed the field, being told that his first lap was “the one that matters”.
It was a purple Sector 1 and 2 for Norris, with Piastri trailing behind.
Sainz crossed the line, two-tenths behind the lead McLaren as he slotted into P3, but it was a better result for his teammate, however, who topped the table.
Carlos Sainz during Sprint Qualifying at the Chinese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.
Ricciardo’s lap wasn’t anything spectacular, leaving him in the elimination zone alongside the Haas drivers, Stroll and Russell.
The Mercedes driver wasn’t settling for a Q2 exit, however, as the track was declared wet, he was forced to.
Thrilling the crowd, the home hero Zhou scraped through to the top ten shootout by 38 milliseconds, making up for the rainy conditions in the grandstands.
Sprint Qualifying 3:
With eyes shifting from the bottom of the order to the top, the fight for Sprint pole was on… and so was the downpour from the Shanghai skies.
Another early queue formed in the pitlane, all drivers on intermediate tyres as they awaited the green light.
Again, it was the Sauber cars that tussled with the order as the field headed out, with Zhou slotting in behind Max Verstappen for his final run.
On his out lap, Charles Leclerc found his Ferrari making light contact with the barrier, the first incident of many in the final session.
Leclerc’s car was free of damage, however, he returned to the pits momentarily.
His teammate was tiptoeing around, calling up his father’s rallying skills as he navigated the treacherous conditions.
Verstappen also harmlessly succumbed to the rain, relying on the run-off area at Turn 14.
Piastri near-replicated the weather-related mistake, saving his MCL38 from an off-track adventure as he continued on his way.
On the timing sheets, it was Sergio Perez who shot to the top, being one of only a few drivers who put a relatively clean lap together.
Impressively, Bottas was next to improve, shooting into P2.
Verstappen’s next attempt wasn’t any better, struggling across the whole lap which resulted in an eventual lap time deletion for his obvious track limits infringements.
Alonso was the next driver to cross the line, securing provisional Sprint pole before the 2021 rivals demoted him.
Fernando Alonso leaves the garage during SQ3 at the Chinese GP. Image: Zak Mauger / LAT Images.
Hamilton’s revised pole time of 1:59.321s was beaten by Norris, who crossed the line just under 1.4 seconds quicker.
Norris, however, had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 16 and was dropped to the backend of the top ten.
Just as quickly as it had been deleted, it was reinstated, with the Brit reclaiming the top spot and securing Sprint pole after an extremely chaotic close to the first Sprint session of the year.
He will start the Chinese Grand Prix Sprint ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, with so much to play for in terms of points and knowledge tomorrow.
Lights out for tomorrow’s Sprint will take place at 1:00 PM, AEST.
Sprint Qualifying Results:
| 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 |
2024 Chinese Grand Prix
Friday, April 19
Practice 1: 13:30-14:30
Sprint Qualifying: 17:30-18:14
Saturday, April 20
Sprint: 13:00-14:00
Qualifying: 17:00-18:00
Sunday, April 21
Grand Prix: 17:00
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