There was a sense of surprise in the air after the sprint finishes of the Chinese Grand Prix, but McLaren, who were tipped as favourites a season ago, ensured that was not the case.
Q1 brought a truly colorful chaos, because with little exaggeration the entire peloton turned over in the top 3. McLaren, Red Bull Racing, Racing Bulls led, finally Lando Norris, Isaac Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda closed this stage at the top. Pierre Gasly, Ollie Bearman, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson had neither luck nor speed and said goodbye to further competitions. The last-named driver had a painfully poor performance, his boss gave him only one piece of advice before qualifying: avoid social media...
In Q2, things went much the same as in the previous stage, with McLaren quickly taking the lead after a brief argument between the Mercedes and never letting it go. Lando Norris once again emerged as the fastest, ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastre, while Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz and the names of two Aston Martins were among the farewells.
After the first fast laps of Q3 we saw the same picture again: two McLarens in the lead, Verstappen close behind. At this stage it was almost certain that the orange team would take pole position, the only question was which driver would do it with which car. In the end Oscar Piastri took first place, ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris. The final result was very close, let's hope that this excitement will continue for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix!
Photo: Motorsportweek / PlanetF1
