Updated April 19th, 2024 at 16:18 IST
Lando Norris claims pole in CHAOTIC Sprint Quali as Max Verstappen falters in F1 Chinese GP 2024
Lando Norris emerged with pole position at the end of a dramatic F1 qualifying as Max Verstappen and Red Bull stumbled.
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McLaren and Lando Norris claimed pole position in a chaotic sprint qualifying session in Shanghai at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix 2024. The session also saw pace setters Red Bull and Max Verstappen fall off the pace in a rain ravaged SQ3 session.
As rain arrived in the SQ3 at the Shanghai International Circuit, the final part of sprint qualifying on Friday became chaotic with every driver struggling to keep their cars on track.
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Max Verstappen looked set to bag home pole position throughout the weekend but he himself had two out of his three lap times deleted in SQ3. Lando Norris was also struggling as his second lap time was deleted which sent him back to ninth spot.
On the other hand, Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso both made the maximum of their opportunities as Lewis Hamilton was on provisional pole, while Fernando Alonso was in P2.
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Lando Norris ruined the ideas of a Lewis-Fernando front row for Saturday's sprint race as he went nearly two seconds clear from the rest of the pack with a lap time of 1:57.940 seconds. But the FIA deleted that lap time due to Norris going over track limits in the final corner of his previous lap. Dramatically that lap time was reinstated by FIA after McLaren argued that Norris didn't gain any advantage due to the chaotic conditions.
FIA then went on to reinstate that lap as Lewis Hamilton was bumped down to P2 and Fernando Alonso P3. Red Bull and Max Verstappen however managed to salvage a second row as the reigning drivers World Champion will start from P4 in tomorrow's sprint race. Max Verstappen's teammate, Sergio Perez despite starting his SQ3 strong couldn't maintain the pace and had to settle for P6.
Both the Ferrari drivers struggled in wet conditions as Carlos Sainz finished P5 and Charles Leclerc finished P7.
Elsewhere, Stake F1 had themselves a great qualifying as home town hero Zhou Guanyu and Valterri Bottas both managed to finish in top 10 with P10 and P9 respectively.
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Here is the entire Classification after Sprint Qualifying
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:36.384 | 1:36.047 | 1:57.940 | 13 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | MERCEDES | 1:37.181 | 1:36.287 | 1:59.201 | 15 |
| 3 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:36.883 | 1:36.119 | 1:59.915 | 14 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:36.456 | 1:35.606 | 2:00.028 | 12 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | FERRARI | 1:36.719 | 1:36.052 | 2:00.214 | 15 |
| 6 | 11 | Sergio Perez | RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT | 1:36.110 | 1:35.781 | 2:00.375 | 12 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | FERRARI | 1:36.537 | 1:35.711 | 2:00.566 | 15 |
| 8 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | MCLAREN MERCEDES | 1:36.542 | 1:35.853 | 2:00.990 | 15 |
| 9 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:37.112 | 1:36.056 | 2:01.044 | 16 |
| 10 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | KICK SAUBER FERRARI | 1:37.544 | 1:36.307 | 2:03.537 | 16 |
| 11 | 63 | George Russell | MERCEDES | 1:37.310 | 1:36.345 | 10 | |
| 12 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | HAAS FERRARI | 1:37.033 | 1:36.473 | 10 | |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | HAAS FERRARI | 1:36.924 | 1:36.478 | 10 | |
| 14 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:37.321 | 1:36.553 | 9 | |
| 15 | 18 | Lance Stroll | ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES | 1:36.961 | 1:36.677 | 8 | |
| 16 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:37.632 | 6 | ||
| 17 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | ALPINE RENAULT | 1:37.720 | 6 | ||
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:37.812 | 6 | ||
| 19 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB HONDA RBPT | 1:37.892 | 6 | ||
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | WILLIAMS MERCEDES | 1:37.923 | 6 |
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Published April 19th, 2024 at 16:08 IST