Verstappen secures Red Bull’s 100th pole position in China
Max Verstappen has earned Red Bull their 100th pole position after dominating the timing sheets in China, lining up alongside his teammate Sergio Perez who ruled over Fernando Alonso in their battle for P2.
Following the conclusion of the weekend’s Sprint proceedings, it was finally time for the grid to return to their usual programming, starting with the Grand Prix Qualifying session to set tomorrow’s grid.
Unlike the conditions during yesterday’s Sprint Qualifying, it was a sunny setting for the hour shootout, thrilling the packed Chinese grandstand.
Qualifying 1:
Much like the queuing concerns seen yesterday, the racing mindset had clearly stuck with Nico Hulkenberg who opted to prematurely overtake his competitors as they exited the pitlane.
The incident was noted by the stewards, however, with so much about to unfold, it was put on the back burner.
Yuki Tsunoda led the pack out of the pitlane, punching in the first timed lap of the session in an unsatisfying manner as he reported that his DRS was not working.
Despite being on the soft tyre, that issue saw the RB driver at the back of the pack,
Carlos Sainz, having had his car repaired from his aggressive Sprint race, was the only driver starting Q1 on the medium compound tyre, with his opening lap seeing him slotting into P, which his teammate over a second ahead.
Fernando Alonso held the fastest time of the session, beating out Max Verstappen who was forced to settle for P2, 0.055s behind.
Verstappen’s teammate also wasn’t able to bring the fight to Alonso after encountering a slow-moving Alex Albon at Turn 1, forcing Perez to abort that attempt.
Oscar Piastri lit up the timing sheets as he skyrocketed to the top, his two purple sectors seeing him crossing the line one-tenth ahead of the veteran.
The 23-year-old was soon demoted by Sainz, with the Ferrari driver swapping his medium tyres for the red-marked compound.
Despite coming into the session feeling positive, Daniel Ricciardo reportedly saw smoke coming from his front right wheel.
That was a worrying sign for the Australian who was stuck in the elimination zone with five minutes remaining.
Daniel Ricciardo on track during qualifying ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix. Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.
He was joined by Lando Norris, Lewis Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez, with that expected to drastically shift.
And shift it did, with Norris going quickest overall after completing his first proper flying lap.
Perez also relegated his RB20 into a presumed Q2 advancement, forcing Zhou Guanyu into the bottom five.
Yellow flags were brought out at Turn 9 for a self-inflicted incident from Sargeant.
The Williams driver took the foam boards out as he spun onto the gravel, leaving him in P20 for tomorrow’s Grand Prix.
Ricciardo was able to advance up the order, moving clear of a Q1 exit, however, the same couldn’t be said for Hamilton whose error at Turn 15 cost him greatly.
The seven-time world champion will be forced to start the Chinese Grand Prix from P18, in his first Q1 exit since Jeddah, 2022, after finishing over six-tenths behind his teammate.
Perez dipped tantalisingly close to a Q1 exit, just scraping through while Verstappen topped the session.
Disappointing the home fans, Zhou Guanyu was also knocked out with a frustrated Yuki Tsunoda joining him, along with Hamilton, Kevin Magnussen and Sargeant.
Qualifying 2:
As the light went green for the second session, the pitlane remained quiet for a few minutes.
With twelve minutes on the clock, the drivers began peeling out of their garages, with Hulkenberg leading the Q2 charge around the Shanghai International Circuit.
As the opening times began rolling in, the McLaren duo looked strong as they jumped to the top of the order.
That was shorted-lived, however, when Verstappen’s three purple sectors rewarded him with a new benchmark time of 1:33:954s.
Running was temporally paused, with red flags being waved for an incident at the final corner.
Carlos Sainz ran full-throttle into the gravel trap at Turn 16, spinning across the track and into the barriers opposite.
Carlos Sainz spins during Qualifying at the Chinese GP. Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images.
Aside from a missing front wing, completely flat spotted tyres and a mess made of the tyre wall, Sainz was able to get going again.
He made his way back to the pitlane, sending the Ferrari mechanics into a frenzy as the red flag clock ticked down.
When the session restarted, Sainz was a part of the delayed barrage rolling out of the pits for a singular lap.
Russell led the early charge, however, taking to the empty circuit to set his first time in Q2.
The Mercedes driver’s time saw him slotting into P3, six-tenths behind the benchmark.
As he completed his lap, the rest of the grid filed out of the pitlane, ready for one last-ditch attempt at a place in Q3.
All eyes were on Sainz as he set off around the 5.4km track.
He set personal best sectors in Sectors 1 and 3, rewarding him with the second fastest time ahead of his teammate.
With both Ferraris jumping clear of the elimination zone, Ricciardo was pushed back under, seeing him exiting in Q2 just as he had in Sprint Qualifying.
It was an improved position, however, with Ricciardo set to line up from P12 tomorrow.
Joining the Australian in the elimination zone were Stroll, Albon and the Alpine drivers.
Impressively, both Bottas and Hulkenberg secured a place in the top ten shootout, advancing by less than a tenth.
Qualifying 3:
Once again, it was George Russell heading the field as the queue bled out of the pitlane.
Russell’s first time was the slowest of the lot, 1.632 seconds behind Max Verstappen’s provisional pole time.
Piastri almost replicated Sainz’s Q2 incident, dipping a wheel into the gravel at Turn 16, however, still setting the fifth fastest time.
Oscar Piastri during Qualifying at the Chinese GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.
He sat behind his teammate, with Alonso splitting the Red Bulls ahead.
Bottas was yet to venture on track in Q3, with all drivers returning to the pits for a mid-session lull.
With less than four minutes on the clock, the track was repopulated, with Bottas joining the outfield this time around.
Sitting in P6 and P7, the Ferrari duo set off on their final attempts at pole position.
It was a twitchy Sector 1 for Sainz who still managed a personal best.
His second sector was subpar, however, his teammate’s was on fire as Leclerc went purple.
The pair temporarily found themselves in P2 and P3, but as their competitors rolled in, that quickly changed.
Piastri and Norris were the first to demote the prancing horses, with Piastri ahead of Leclerc by less than a tenth.
The battle for P2 was on, however, with both Alonso and Perez running on par with one another through the final sector.
Alonso was the first to cross the line, jumping into the highly-coveted front-row position behind Verstappen with his time of 1:34.148s.
Ultimately, Perez’s time of 1:33.982s was far superior, seeing Red Bull securing a 1-2 and the team taking their 100th pole position.
As a result, Max Verstappen will line up from the front of the partially jumbled grid, in what is expected to be yet another exciting outing in China.
Lights out for the Chinese Grand Prix will take place at 5:00 PM, AEST.
Qualifying Results:
| POS | DRIVER | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:34.742 | 1:33.794 | 1:33.660 | |
| 2 | 1:35.457 | 1:34.026 | 1:33.982 | |
| 3 | 1:35.116 | 1:34.652 | 1:34.148 | |
| 4 | 1:34.842 | 1:34.460 | 1:34.165 | |
| 5 | 1:35.014 | 1:34.659 | 1:34.273 | |
| 6 | 1:34.797 | 1:34.399 | 1:34.289 | |
| 7 | 1:34.970 | 1:34.368 | 1:34.297 | |
| 8 | 1:35.084 | 1:34.609 | 1:34.433 | |
| 9 | 1:35.068 | 1:34.667 | 1:34.604 | |
| 10 | 1:35.169 | 1:34.769 | 1:34.665 | |
| 11 | 1:35.334 | 1:34.838 | ||
| 12 | 1:35.443 | 1:34.934 | ||
| 13 | 1:35.356 | 1:35.223 | ||
| 14 | 1:35.384 | 1:35.241 | ||
| 15 | 1:35.287 | 1:35.463 | ||
| 16 | 1:35.505 | |||
| 17 | 1:35.516 | |||
| 18 | 1:35.573 | |||
| 19 | 1:35.746 | |||
| 20 | 1:36.358 |
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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