Max Verstappen takes pole for the Chinese Grand Prix to complete a dominant Saturday for the three time world champion.
Q1
Hamilton had made a number of setup changes to his car following the sprint race after yesterday’s qualifying had proven to be a difficult one for Mercedes prior to the rain’s intervention. However, things had only gotten worse for the team as a result of the changes, and Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 after he was only able to go 18th.
Tsunoda’s troubles this weekend continued as he was 19th fastest in Q1. Alongside his Q1 exit in the sprint qualifying, this has been quite the change in fortunes for the Japanese driver, who has managed to be comfortably ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who himself has managed to make the second part of qualifying in both sessions this weekend.
Alpine have their best qualifying of the season so far as both Ocon and Gasly are able to escape Q1. This is a decent improvement on their sprint qualifying result on Friday, which saw them in 16th and 17th.
Logan Sargeant’s had a rocky start to the 2024 season which continued into this qualifying session. Nine tenths off from escaping elimination in Q1, he was not helped by having a spin at turn 8 on his last lap.
ELIMINATED
16. Zhou Guanyu – Kick Sauber +0.048
17. Kevin Magnussen – Haas +0.059
18. Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes +0.116
19. Yuki Tsunoda – Alpha Tauri +0.289
20. Logan Sargeant – Williams +0.901
Q2
Carlos Sainz had caused a red flag after spinning his car on the exit of the final corner, having lost control as a result of dipping two tyres onto the gravel. After hitting the barrier, Sainz had initially stopped his car, but was able to get going again and make his way back to the pits. The damage he sustained was able to be repaired, and Sainz would make it through to Q3.
Sainz’s Q3 appearance however would come at the expense of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, who qualified 11th. The team filed a protest since Sainz was allowed to return to qualifying after having been stopped on the track. This protest was eventually dismissed though, with the FIA citing previous examples of cars being considered to have stopped, but allowed to continue without the complaints of other teams.
Elsewhere, Valtteri Bottas was able to find some great pace in his Kick Sauber, managing to get into Q3 for qualifying for the first time this season, though he did also reach SQ3 in Firday’s sprint qualifying as well. However, unlike in the sprint qualifying, Zhou Guanyu would not be joining him, as he was knocked out in Q1.
ELIMINATED
11. Lance Stroll – Aston Martin +0.069
12. Daniel Ricciardo – RB +0.165
13. Esteban Ocon – Alpine +0.454
14. Alex Albon – Williams +0.472
15. Pierre Gasly – Alpine +0.694
Q3
Max Verstappen took the early advantage as he set a very first lap that was just under five tenths quicker than Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull. This opened the door for Fernando Alonso to provisionally jump onto the front row in 2nd place, though still four tenths slower than Verstappen.
The track was improving very rapidly, as was to be expected for a circuit that F1 had not raced on in five years. Sainz was able to initially go 2nd fastest before quickly being jumped by Charles Leclerc, with Piastri then jumping the two of them.
The times would continue to tumble as Norris would then get his turn to take provisional 2nd place, though no one was able to get ahead of Max Verstappen, who would go on to further improve his time by three tenths. Alonso would return to the front row once again, albeit just under half a second slower than Verstappen, just for Sergio Perez to make it a front row lockout for Red Bull just a few seconds later.
Qualifying results
1. Max Verstappen – Red Bull 1:33.660
2. Sergio Perez – Red Bull +0.322
3. Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin +0.488
4. Lando Norris – McLaren +0.505
5. Oscar Piastri– McLaren +0.613
6. Charles Leclerc – Ferrari +0.629
7. Carlos Sainz – Ferrari +0.637
8. George Russell – Mercedes +0.773
9. Nico Hulkenberg – Haas +0.944
10. Valtteri Bottas – Kick Sauber +1.005
